THE Nigerian international Zaidu Sanusi ends his contract with FC Porto at the end of the current 2026/27 sports season, and, with no agreement in sight regarding renewal, the possibility of abandoning the Estádio do Dragão in the not too distant future is gaining more and more strength.
This Thursday, the British portal Football Insider he adds that this situation has been monitored with particular attention by Leeds United, who would welcome the possibility of ‘rescuing’ the 29-year-old player in January, when the winter transfer market opens.
The Whites’ expectation, you can read, is that, given the possibility of the management led by André Villas-Boas losing the left-back (which they have been watching for at least two years now, but without any concrete proposal made) at ‘zero cost’, they will be open to negotiating him at a ‘sale price’.
The extensive experience acquired at the highest level, since being recruited from Santa Clara, in the summer of 2020, in exchange for a fee in the order of four million euros, was one of the factors that caught the most attention of what is one of the Premier League’s sensational teams (it is ranked seventh, with the same 11 points as Brentford, Newcastle and Aston Villa).
Zaidu Sanusi puts up a fight
The news of Leeds United’s alleged interest comes following a season that has been one of ups and downs for Zaidu Sanusi. The good news came first, when he took advantage of the lack of options on the left side of defense in FC Porto’s squad to start the first four games.
In fact, the Nigerian international actually played the 90 minutes in the victories over Torreense (1-0, which won the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira), Alverca, Rio Ave and Arouca (respectively, 2-0, 0-2 and 2-0, all counting for the I League). It was then that, on the fourth round of the national championship, bad luck knocked on his door.
The full-back suffered a muscle injury to the adductor of his right leg in the 17th minute of the victory over Académico de Viseu (0-3), which would end up keeping him sidelined for almost two months, so much so that he only returned on the 20th of October, when he played initially, in the defeat suffered against PSV (0-1, in the Champions League).
A status he maintained in the victory over Gil Vicente (0-1), before Francesco Farioli sent him to the bench, on Wednesday, in the 1-0 victory over Académico de Viseu (which earned access to the semi-finals of the League Cup), from which he only left in the 73rd minute, replacing João Souza.
João Souza gaining space
At the moment, in addition to Zaidu Sanusi, Francesco Farioli has Francisco Moura and João Souza on the left side of the defense. The Portuguese has been the ‘victim’ of a sequence of individual errors, while the Brazilian, on loan from Tottenham, is starting to show his worth.
