Leeds United: Rangers' Todd Cantwell reveals how close Elland Road move from Norwich really was | OneFootball

It seems as though Rangers attacker Todd Cantwell was not far away from completing a move to Leeds United during his Norwich City days.

That's after the 25-year-old admitted that a "concrete" deal was in a place, and that the reason a move was not completed, had nothing to do with the player himself.

Was Cantwell ever linked with a move to Leeds?

Back in the summer of 2020, Leeds had just been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League, while Norwich had been relegated in the opposite direction at the same time.

It was reported at that point that the Elland Road club were working on a deal to sign Cantwell, thought to be worth around £15million.

Ultimately though, no move materialised, and the attacker stayed with Norwich until January 2022, when he was loaned to Bournemouth.

Cantwell then secured a permanent exit from Carrow Road in January this year, when he joined Rangers for an undisclosed fee.

Since then, the 25-year-old has gone on to make 28 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, scoring six goals and providing five assists in that time.

Now it appears that Cantwell's career could have gone on a rather different trajectory, had things played out slightly differently, with regards to his move to Leeds.

What has Cantwell said about his possible move to Leeds?

Although no deal to take the attacker to Leeds would happen in the end, it does seem as though Cantwell would have been willing to join the Elland Road club.

Indeed, judging by what the attacker has said here, it was only an issue between the two clubs, that stopped that transfer from being completed.

Speaking about his rumoured move to Leeds on The Beautiful Game podcast, Cantwell said: “It was close and it was concrete but that’s something I won’t go into the details of.

"There’s a lot of people that still work within these clubs and you never know when your paths are going to cross.

“For whatever reason they didn’t come to an agreement. It wasn’t to do with me, it was to do with the clubs. The conversations were real and the interest was definitely real though.”

Where are Leeds and Norwich in the Championship?

This season sees both Leeds and Norwich competing in the Championship, following the former's relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.

Both sides have had bright spells this season, that have put them in the mix for a play-off place as things stand.

Currently, Leeds are fifth in the second-tier standings, two places and two points ahead of the Canaries after 11 games of the league campaign.

The two sides are set to go head to head at Carrow Road on Saturday afternoon, in a game that will see current Leeds boss Daniel Farke return to his former club.

Would Cantwell have been a good signing for Leeds?

There is certainly an argument that it would have been a good deal for Leeds had they brought Cantwell to the club.

The attacker possesses a great deal of talent, something he has shown on numerous occasions throughout his career, often with a game-changing spark.

As a result, he could have been a big asset to Leeds, who certainly looked as though they needed more attacking firepower throughout their most recent spell in the Premier League.

However, with Cantwell having signed a long-term contract with Rangers back in January, it seems unlikely that is a deal they will be able to revisit anytime soon.