Sporting director claims Leeds United on recent scouting mission for 6ft 6in Swedish goalkeeper

Whites representatives were reportedly at the recent AIK vs Mjällby fixture, which the home side won 1-0, in order to watch Sweden Under-21 international goalkeeper Törnqvist.

Speaking to Fotbollskanalen in the Scandinavian country, Larsson claimed a visit had been paid by scouts belonging to Leeds, two unnamed Dutch clubs and Danish giants FC Copenhagen.

"In the 1-0 loss to AIK on Saturday, Championship side Leeds United and Danish second-placed FCK scouted the Mjällby keeper on the spot,” the report reads.

“There is an interest, absolutely. We will see what happens, we have not received anything concrete. We have only received inquiries,” Larsson said.

As for contact between Mjällby and Leeds, the sporting director says none has been made at this stage.

"I think we have a contract for four more years. It's hard to say, but we would like to keep him for a while longer. Then we'll see, it depends on what happens,” Larsson added. Törnqvist signed an extension with the club last summer, which runs until 2026, and as it stands no offers have been made by any interested club.

The 21-year-old stands at 6ft 6in tall and has kept 11 clean sheets in 29 appearances across all competitions this season, helping Mjällby reach the Swedish Cup Final in May, where they finished runners-up.

Törnqvist reportedly went on trial at Leeds as a 15-year-old, initialling joining the Under-16 group at Thorp Arch before being tested at Under-18 level, while still with previous club Halmstads BK.

2023 is the first year in which Törnqvist has been first choice at Mjällby’s home ground Strandvallen, while his only other previous senior experience came on loan with second tier club AFC Eskilstuna. Mjällby sit ninth in the 16-team Allsvenskan – Sweden’s top flight – and have conceded the joint-fewest goals this season of any team, excluding the top two, Elfsborg and Malmö.

United currently have Illan Meslier, Kristoffer Klaesson and Karl Darlow on the books as first-team goalkeeping options, with Dutch youth international Dani van den Heuvel and Harry Christy in reserve.

Leeds appointed former Icelandic international Gretar Steinsson as the club’s new technical director over the summer, supplementing the scouting team alongside interim transfers advisor Nick Hammond and ex-Celtic scout Gary Penrice. The Whites are keen to renew Hammond and Penrice’s contracts at the club, having initially agreed short-term deals with the pair in light of a changing of the guard at recruitment level following Victor Orta’s departure.