Leeds United opinion: Whites should look at Ryan Nolan

According to the Irish Mirror, Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds United have been credited with an interest in highly-rated Inter Milan prodigy Ryan Nolan, with the report claiming that the 20-year-old is keen to secure a move away from the San Siro in search of regular first-team football. 

However, if Leeds are genuinely interested in signing the Republic of Ireland youth international, the Whites would need to fend off interest from several Premier League clubs like Watford, Leicester City and Brighton.

Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem are also on the lookout for his signature. (h/t Irish Mirror)

Nolan, who has only one year remaining on his current contract at Inter Milan, was the captain of the U19 side last season but he is now overage for the Primavera.

That has prompted the Irishman to look for greener pastures, preferably closer to his homeland, given the level of competition for places in the first-team at the San Siro. 

Born in Co Clare, Republic of Ireland, Nolan grew up in Spain and has been with the Nerazzurri since 2015.

The right-footed centre-back made rapid progress through the youth ranks and has featured prominently for the U-19 side in the UEFA Youth League, whilst also accumulating a total of 72 appearances for the Primavera over the course of three seasons.

Nolan has represented the Republic of Ireland at the U-18 level, although he is yet to make his breakthrough for the U-21 side due to lack of first-team action at the senior level.

That, however, might change if he manages to complete a move to the Premier League or the Championship this summer, which would allow him to be more involved in the Irish international set up. 

To put things into perspective, Ryan Nolan looks like a real talent at this stage of his career and it won’t be a bad idea for Leeds United to swoop for the highly-rated Irish centre-back this summer.

The Yorkshire giants have already added Ben White, Jack Harrison, Rafa Mujica, Helder Costa and Liam McCarron to their ranks this summer but they should be open to doing more business in the last few weeks before the deadline. 

Despite all the new arrivals, Leeds currently find themselves short of quality cover at the back following the sale of Swedish international Pontus Jansson to Brentford.

Gaetano Berardi and Liam Cooper are very much likely to be a part of Marcelo Bielsa’s plans for the upcoming campaign, although neither of them looked particularly convincing at the back the last term. 

Aapo Halme continues to be a highly-rated prospect but the Finnish youth international has largely been on the fringes of the first-team at Elland Road. Luke Ayling and Kalvin Phillips are more than capable of filling in at the heart of the defence in times of crisis.

However, one cannot help but feel that bringing in a top-quality youngster like Ryan Nolan would possibly do the Whites a world of good. 

It is true that Nolan has spent his formative years in Italy and he might take a bit of time to acclimatise to the style of play prevalent in the Championship.

That, however, shouldn’t be a problem because he would probably initially link up with the U23 side, with a view to training with the first-team in the future. And it is a no-brainer that he has got the talent and the potential to make an early breakthrough into the first-team picture at Elland Road. 

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Conclusion

Leeds need to ensure that they have the right kind of balance in their squad to reignite their promotion surge in the Championship next term. With that in mind, the Whites should not hesitate to snap up the 20-year-old Irishman from Inter Milan this summer.