Leeds United, Sunderland And Wolves Keen On Ligue 1 Man As Roma Hold Talks | OneFootball

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Sunderland, Leeds United and Wolves are interested in Lens midfielder Neil El Aynaoui, and Roma are in talks with the Ligue 1 club to try to sign the Moroccan.

The 24-year-old started his career with French side Nancy, before Lens picked him up back in the summer of 2023 on a four-year deal.

El Ayanoui has been an important player for Les Sang et Or, but he is attracting interest from multiple European clubs this summer.

The central midfielder had some injury issues in the recent campaign, which only allowed him to play 24 Ligue 1 games, but his stock is still high and rising.

The former Morocco Under-23 international clocked only about 1,600 minutes for Lens, scoring eight goals and providing one assist in the process.

And now, according to French outlet Foot Mercato, the 24-year-old midfielder is attracting interest from three Premier League sides in the shape of Wolves, Leeds and Sunderland this summer, but the Ligue 1 club do not want to sell him.

Sunderland have been looking at multiple players from the French top flight, which is Regis Le Bris’ backyard.

Serie A clubs Juventus and AC Milan are in the race for the Moroccan, but Roma are currently ahead of the curve as they are in talks with Les Sang et Or for the 24-year-old, with a €20m deal eyed.

Leeds have been looking to strengthen their engine room as they have been linked with multiple European midfielders, and El Aynaoui is the latest one.

Wolves are reshaping their squad this summer under Vitor Pereira, and adding more quality to the middle of the park has been their priority.

The 24-year-old wants guaranteed game time and it remains to be seen if any of the interested Premier League clubs will be able to convince him to make a move to England this summer.

With the French club also unwilling to sell, all eyes will be on whether Roma can make progress, with the capital club pushing to get at the front of the queue.