Leeds United and Burnley plotting seven-figure transfer swoop for defender | OneFootball

The Championship pair face a fight against Premier League sides in their pursuit of the central defender.

Burnley and Leeds United are keeping tabs on Steaua Bucharest centre-back Joyskim Dawa.

This is according to the Daily Mirror, who have also revealed that Premier League teams are also eyeing a potential move for the Cameroonian, as well as the Clarets and the Whites.

Dawa has played in numerous countries during his career, playing in France during his youth career before moving to Portugal to play for Gil Vicente.

Spells in Ukraine and Latvia followed, before he made the switch to Romania to link up with Botosani.

Spending the 2021/22 campaign there, he then moved on to Steaua Bucharest, who are one of the finest teams in Romania.

Joining during the summer of 2022, he saw his team miss out on the league title during his time there.

However, he played a part in their title win at the end of the 2023/24 campaign - and will be delighted that he's with a successful team in the peak years of his career, with the France-born defender currently 28.

His contributions and reliability have helped him to earn interest from elsewhere - and there are no shortage of teams interested in luring him away from Romania.

Plenty of teams in England are keeping tabs on his situation and it may only be a matter of time before he secures a move there.

Leeds United and Burnley among teams interested in Joyskim Dawa

Leeds are believed to be one of the teams interested in Dawa.

The Whites may have purchased Joe Rodon during the summer window, but they don't have a huge number of centre-back options, especially with Ethan Ampadu currently out injured until the new year.

Max Wober has stayed, which is a boost, but Liam Cooper departed on the expiration of his contract, Charlie Cresswell and Diego Llorente were sold during the summer window and Robin Koch has departed Elland Road permanently.

With all of this in mind, they may not have enough depth to last throughout the season.

The Clarets have also taken an interest in the 28-year-old, with the Daily Mirror reporting that they have requested more information on the defender.

Unfortunately, the Championship pair will have to compete with top-flight teams for his signature, with Everton, Fulham and Leicester City also keen on the central defender.

This could make it difficult for either second-tier team to come out on top in this race, but both are in with a good chance of securing a top-flight return in the next year or two.

Leeds United may need Joyskim Dawa more in the short term than Burnley

The Clarets currently have quite a few centre-back options when all of them are fit.

Ameen Al-Dakhil, Luke McNally and Dara O'Shea may have left in August, but John Egan, Bashir Humphreys and Joe Worrall all joined, with Maxime Esteve also joining permanently.

Jordan Beyer and Hjalmar Ekdal are other options Scott Parker has when they are available, so their centre-back area doesn't look too shabby when most of their options are fit, with CJ Egan-Riley also being included in the first team this season.

Leeds, however, as mentioned above, don't have that many options in central defence.

Dawa could have a decent role to play at Elland Road because of that, but he may not be guaranteed starts and he will need to seek assurances about his game time before joining any club.

With his release clause only believed to be around £4m though, this is a deal that both teams could pull off.