It is no secret that Leeds United will be in the market to add at least one central defender to their squad before the summer transfer window slams shut.

In a slightly surprising move, Dutchman Pascal Struijk ended his career at Elland Road by completing a £20m move to Premier League rivals Brighton & Hove Albion at the end of last month.

The defender opted against putting pen to paper on an extension in West Yorkshire and that forced the club to cash in on him, as his deal was due to expire at the end of the 2026/27 campaign.

Struijk started 33 of the club's 38 matches in the Premier League last season for Daniel Farke, which is why his exit from the club will have come as a big blow for the German head coach.

His move to Brighton also now means that Leeds do not have a single naturally left-footed central defender in their first-team squad heading into next term.

Leeds United considering move to sign Serie A defender

As a manager who likes his teams to build out from the back and to control possession where possible, Farke will want a left-footed player to operate on the left of the back three.

Now, the club are looking at a left-footed player who could arrive at Elland Road as an even better option than Struijk for the former Norwich City head coach next season.

According to TuttoJuve, Leeds United are one of a number of clubs interested in a deal to sign central defender Lloyd Kelly from Juventus in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that Leeds, Aston Villa, and Everton all have concrete interest in the left-footed star and are considering moves to bring him back to England in the coming weeks.

It adds that Kelly is one of the main candidates to be sold by the Old Lady ahead of the 2026/27 campaign and that they are willing to listen to offers for him.

TuttoJuve explains that Juventus are currently asking for a fee of £30m for the defender, but that they would be willing to accept a fee of around £26m.

Why Lloyd Kelly is even better than Pascal Struijk

After Struijk helped Leeds to avoid relegation straight back down to the Championship as a regular starter in the Premier League, the Whites need a replacement who can hit the ground running and make an instant impact at Elland Road.

Kelly, once described as a "Rolls-Royce" by Jonathan Woodgate, fits the bill because he is currently playing for a European giant, Juventus, and has plenty of previous experience in the Premier League with Bournemouth and Newcastle.

The English star's performances in the Serie A for the Italian side also suggest that he would arrive in West Yorkshire as an even better left-sided centre-back option than Struijk for Farke.

Based on their respective statistics last season, Kelly is far more difficult to get the better of for opposition attackers than Struijk, as he is dribbled past less frequently and wins a higher percentage of his duels on the ground and in the air.

He is particularly more effective at defending aerial duels and that could help the Whites to improve from set-piece situations heading into the 2026/27 Premier League campaign.

In the first half of the 2024/25 season, prior to his winter move to Juventus, Kelly won 58% of his ground duels and 78% of his aerial battles across ten appearances for Newcastle in the Premier League.

He also won 61% of his total duels across 23 appearances in the division for Bournemouth in the 2023/24 campaign, before his move to the Magpies in the summer of 2024.

These statistics show that he has already proven himself to be a dominant central defender in the Premier League, with two other clubs, and he has carried that form over to Italy with Juventus.

On top of being a better out-and-out defender than Struijk, Kelly also completed 89% of his attempted passes in the Serie A and created three 'big chances' for his teammates.

Meanwhile, the Dutchman completed 88% of his attempted passes in the Premier League and created two 'big chances' for his side, which suggests that the Englishman would be a slight upgrade with the ball at his feet.

Overall, Leeds must push to beat Villa and Everton to Kelly's signature in the coming weeks because the left-footed star looks like the perfect replacement for Struijk this summer.