For the last year, Leeds United have been linked with a move for Rodrigo De Paul, however they may have found a cheaper alternative in Nahitan Nandez who would only cost about half the price of De Paul, according to Forza Italian Football editor in chief, Conor Clancy.

Nandez is quite similar to De Paul as he is willing to get forward and find himself in good positions in the final third, however his willingness to work box-to-box is something that has taken Marcelo Bielsa’s eye as the Uruguayan has been linked with a summer switch.

Leeds are not the only club said to be interested in the midfielder with Serie A champions Inter Milan also reportedly working on a deal to sign him, and they may have more power in the negotiations given that Radja Nainggolan is on loan at Cagliari, where Nandez is currently plying his trade.

If Bielsa’s side are priced out of a move for De Paul, now that Liverpool are interested, they could opt for a cheaper and slightly more energetic midfielder in Nandez, something Clancy spoke exclusively to Transfer Tavern about:

“I don’t think it would take all that much because I think he’s got a release clause of something like €3o million (£25m) just off the top of my head, and Cagliari are not exactly a wealthy club. 

“I’d say if they got an offer of about €25 million (£21.5m) then they’d be very tempted. The only thing is that the likes of Inter Milan are also sniffing around him so that might jack the price up a little bit.”

Cagliari flirted with relegation this season finishing just four points above the drop zone and despite this, Nandez managed to rack up a 6.72 WhoScored rating and in the six games that he messed this season, Cagliari failed to win any of them.

Nandez could prove to be a fine partner alongside Kalvin Phillips and at a much cheaper price than De Paul, it would allow Bielsa to spread his transfer budget across the entire squad and bring in more quality additions.