Leeds United are closing in on a loan deal for Nice left-back Melvin Bard, with an option to sign the French defender permanently at the end of the season.
The Yorkshire club are expected to pay an initial €1 million for the 25-year-old, with a further €5 million required should they decide to make the transfer permanent. Bard is due at Elland Road on Tuesday, 1 September, to undergo a medical.
His arrival would give Daniel Farke greater cover on the left side of defence, where Gabriel Gudmundsson is currently the only senior option available to the Leeds manager.
Bard joined Nice from Lyon in 2021 and has made 193 appearances for the Ligue 1 club, according to French newspaper L’Équipe. Nice’s official profile records that he came through Lyon’s academy and has also represented France at several youth levels.
The deal is being pursued as Leeds work to complete their business on transfer deadline day. Their attacking options are also in flux, with Willy Gnonto in Florence to finalise a move to Fiorentina.
Gnonto’s transfer was dependent on Leeds securing a replacement, but their attempt to bring in Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk was disrupted by Tottenham’s interest.
Bard would become Leeds’ sixth senior signing of the summer, following the arrivals of goalkeepers James Trafford and Michael Zetterer, defenders Nico Elvedi and Tarik Muharemovic, and forward Harry Wilson.
