Rangers midfielder Todd Cantwell recounts near-miss move to ...

NEW DELHI:

Rangers

midfielder

Todd Cantwell

recently shared insights into his almost-realized transfer to Leeds United back in the summer of 2020 under the management of Marcelo Bielsa. At the time, Cantwell was highly regarded in the Premier League due to his outstanding performances for

Norwich City

during the 2019/20 season, despite the club's relegation to the Championship.
Having emerged through the ranks of Norwich City's academy, Cantwell played a pivotal role under current Leeds boss

Daniel Farke

, contributing to the Canaries' promotion from the Championship. His performances continued to shine in the Premier League, earning him regular appearances for the England U21 squad. This success naturally attracted attention from Premier League clubs after Norwich's return to the second tier.

Among those clubs was Leeds United, who were reportedly working on a deal to secure Cantwell's services, with a potential transfer fee of around £15 million. Cantwell has now disclosed that Leeds' interest was substantial, and a transfer nearly materialized.

In an interview with The Beautiful Game podcast, Cantwell revealed, "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."
The deal, however, failed to materialize for reasons unrelated to the player. Cantwell clarified, "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."

After falling out of favor at Norwich following Farke's departure, Cantwell embarked on a journey to resurrect his career, which has led him to the Scottish Premiership and

Europa League

football with Rangers.