Leeds United officially confirmed that central defender Pascal Struijk has been sold to Premier League rivals Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday. The Dutchman had one year left on his contract at Elland Road and opted against putting pen to paper on an extension at Elland Road, which left the club with little choice but to cash in on him. Because the left-footed star joined on a free transfer from Ajax in January 2018, the £20m transfer fee for him represents pure profit for the club and will help them with their PSR situation.
Without boring anyone with the intricate details of how it works, the Whites can bank the transfer as pure profit because they did not sign him for a transfer fee, which would not be the case if they sold a player who had been bought for £5m or £15m. Now, though, the West Yorkshire outfit must use that money wisely to replace the former Ajax ace, as they are now down a left-footed centre-back option.
Leeds are in talks to sign LaLiga star
Struijk, who made 196 appearances for the first-team in all competitions during his time at Elland Road, was the only naturally left-footed centre-back in Daniel Farke’s squad.
Now, the club are reportedly looking at a player who could arrive in West Yorkshire this summer as the perfect replacement for the £20m-rated star.
According to journalist Fran Campos Vazquez, Leeds United are one of the teams interested in a deal to sign Real Betis centre-back Natan in the summer transfer window. The reporter claims that the Whites have already made contact with the LaLiga side to enquire and open talks about what a deal for the Brazilian star could look like this off-season.
He adds, though, that fellow Premier League side Brentford and Italian giants Roma are also eyeing up the 25-year-old, which means that it will not be an easy deal to get over the line. Earlier this summer, Mundo Deportivo reported that Real Betis are looking for a fee of up to €35m (£30m) for the central defender, who has also been looked at by Barcelona.
How Natan can be an upgrade on Pascal Struijk for Leeds United
One factor to consider when replacing Struijk is that he offered a natural left-footed balance when playing out from the back in the left-sided centre-back role.
Natan is a left-footed central defender and would perfectly replace the Dutchman to offer balance when playing out on that side, having completed 88% of his attempted passes in LaLiga in the 2025/26 campaign. The £30m-rated star was described as an “elegant left-footed CB” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, which is backed up by his 88% pass accuracy and 95% pass accuracy inside his own half.
25/26 season
Natan (LaLiga)
Struijk (Premier League)
Appearances
33
34
Tackles + interceptions
2.1
2.0
Clearances per game
6.6
6.1
Dribbled past per game
0.3x
0.5x
Blocks made per game
0.7
0.6
Fouls committed per game
0.8
0.8
Natan is not only a ball-playing centre-back, though, as he also posted more impressive defensive numbers in LaLiga than Struijk did in the Premier League for Leeds, outperforming him in a host of metrics. Only three players made more clearances in the Spanish top-flight than the Real Betis star, who made 217 clearances in 33 matches, which speaks to both his positioning and his reading of the game.
He could arrive at Elland Road to be an upgrade on the Dutchman, who only left this week, by being more consistent defensively, whilst being as impressive as a ball-playing left-footed centre-back.
At the age of 25, he would also join as an experienced player who has proven himself over several seasons, including in the 2024/25 Conference League campaign.
Natan played 15 matches in the Conference League in the season before last and won 68% of his ground duels and 57% of his aerial duels, which shows that he can be a dominant presence on the European stage, if Leeds get there in the future.
He also won 65% of his physical battles across 31 appearances in LaLiga that season, dominating attackers on a regular basis, which shows that he has two impressive seasons of LaLiga football under his belt. That is why the Whites should now push to beat Brentford and Roma to his signature in the coming days, because he would arrive as the perfect replacement for Struijk, potentially even being an upgrade.
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