Leeds United shortlist Manchester United-linked defender ahead of 2026 summer transfer window

Leeds United have completed their return to the Premier League with their top-flight status intact, but the manner of it leaves Daniel Farke with obvious work to do this summer.

A start that threatened relegation, with six defeats in seven at one stage, was turned around by a switch to a back three that steadied the side and carried them to comfortable mid-table safety with games to spare.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goals gave the attack a focal point, yet it was the defensive reorganisation that defined the campaign.

That shift has made central defence the spine of how Farke wants Leeds to play, and it has exposed how thin the options behind his first choices really are.

Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol and Pascal Struijk shouldered most of the season, with Sebastiaan Bornauw and the versatile James Justin deputising when injuries bit.

With speculation already circling the futures of Struijk and Bornauw, and the retained list yet to be published, Elland Road is bracing for a summer of both departures and arrivals.

It is against that backdrop that Leeds have begun casting a wider net, and one of the names now on their radar carries a Manchester United connection.

According to transfer reporter Rudy Galetti, Leeds have gathered information on Tromso centre-back Abubacarr Sedi Kinteh and added the Gambia international to their shortlist.

Leeds United and Koln battle for Abubacarr Sedi Kinteh

The catch for Farke is that Leeds are nowhere near the front of the queue as Galetti reports that Bundesliga side Koln are pushing hard for the defender.

The German side are prepared to raise their offer to around £5.2 million (€6 million) after Tromso rejected a bid of roughly £4.3 million (€5 million).

Leeds and Koln are only some of the interested parties though, as Manchester United and Chelsea have been interest in Kinteh since February.

Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada were planning a trip to Norway to monitor the youngster personally, however since then the Untied angle has gone quiet.

Abubacarr Sedi Kinteh has been framed as the kind of young, left-footed, ball-playing defender that fits a longer-term recruitment profile rather than an immediate first-team need.

Kinteh’s rise has been rapid enough to justify the attention, as the 19-year-old joined Tromso in March 2025 from Senegal’s Academy Mawade Wade, signing a deal that runs until 2029 after impressing on trial.

He went on to establish himself almost immediately, making around 21 league appearances in his debut Eliteserien season as a left-sided centre-back in a back three, chipping in with a goal and an assist and earning a Young Player of the Month award in May.

A senior Gambia debut followed in October and as such, a club that turned down a multi-million-euro bid after only three league outings has watched his valuation climb steadily across the year.

What is clear is that the more concrete movement at present sits with Koln and now Leeds, with United’s link the older and less developed of the threads.

Whether that interest hardens into anything once the summer window opens, now that other interest is openeing up as United’s own defensive planning still takes shape, is the question worth tracking rather than assuming.