Leeds United ‘tempted by’ Adama Traoré, just like Chelsea — report

Adama Traoré was a surprising name that popped up in multiple transfer window previews, with the likes of the Telegraph claiming that Thomas Tuchel is a big fan of the Wolverhampton Wanderers wing-back, and sees him as good competition for Reece James on the right flank of Chelsea’s setup (or complement, if James plays as one of three center-backs).

We haven’t heard much beyond that of any potential pursuit of the 25-year-old former Barcelona youth prospect, especially now that Adama’s with the Spanish national team at the Euros. But perhaps we’ll be spurred into action if Leeds United make good on their long-standing interest. Eurosport claims that Adama could be part of big changes at Wolves this summer (in the wake of manager Nuno Espírito Santo’s departure), but that Leeds don’t want to pay more than £40m, which certainly sounds like a reasonable stance.

Would Chelsea want to pay that much, even? Adama certainly has tremendous speed and can often prove the wild card to winning games with his ridiculous skills and dribbling (though not his goals, usually) — Spain certainly could’ve used him the other day instead of just keeping him on the bench, bored like the rest of us — but whether that’s worth that much is debatable. It should be noted that Tuchel, despite his general controlled approach, did try Callum Hudson-Odoi at wing-back a few times, so it’s not inconceivable that he’d want someone like Adama there as an option, to help create and solve our attacking woes.