Leeds United striker Lukas Nmecha has dodged questions on his future at Elland Road, enhancing fears he could look to quit as a free agent next summer, and with links to an ambitious Championship side starting to gather pace.

The Whites signed the Germany international as a free agent in the summer of 2025; their first capture of their summer rebuild having secured promotion back to the Premier League.

And while the striker has never been a regular in Daniel Farke’s side, he has proved a useful option off the bench, scoring on seven occasions and providing five assists in his 47 appearances for the club so far.

However, this season, his minutes have reduced dramatically, with Nmecha having only played 121 minutes in the Premier League across eight appearances off the bench.

And with his deal at Elland Road due to expire next summer, that lack of action is becoming an increasing bone of contention for the 27-year-old.

Here at TEAMtalk, we have been on top of Nmecha’s contract situation for some time, exclusively revealing in September that a January exit for the player cannot be ruled out, while also revealing last month that a potential move away is being pushed by the player and his agent, owing to a lack of minutes. That is despite Leeds’ willingness to extend his deal.

Now, the player, during an appearance on the club’s official podcast, has been asked how he would feel by running out in front of an expanded Elland Road, with building works ongoing to extend the capacity to 55,000.

Appearing as a guest on the podcast, former Leeds manager Simon Grayson asked Nmecha: “How much are you looking forward to seeing that potentially being around, taking [stadium capacity] up to 55,000?

“Although you might have to sign a new contract, first…”

Nmecha’s reply, though, will hardly inspire confidence that he will be around to see the redesigned Elland Road, when he dodged the question on his future, instead discussing the remarkable support of the Leeds fans.

The seven-cap Germany striker responded: “I hope and believe the atmosphere will be the same. That’s always the worrying thing. But I think for the amount of fans we have, 55,000 isn’t that big. It could be even bigger.”

Nmecha links to Southampton gather pace

As TEAMtalk also exclusively revealed on 19 October, Nmecha is already the subject of transfer interest from Cologne, back in his homeland, while ambitious Championship side Southampton are also tracking the striker as an option to strengthen their attack.

The Whites, though, would only sanction his exit should a replacement be lined up first.

Those links to the south coast are now starting to gain a little more traction; so much so that former Southampton striker Kevin Phillips, in his new blog for the Daily Echo, made alleged interest in Nmecha the subject of his latest feature.

Urging Saints to make their move for the Leeds man, he wrote: “I think Nmecha would bring quality to the team. We know he can score goals. I think he just needs a run in a side.

“Would he get that at Southampton when Cyle Larin’s fit? Possibly not. But when Larin’s missing, as he has been, it’s over to other players.

“I think they started with [Divin] Mubama up top last night, so it’s certainly an area that the manager will be looking at in January, for sure.

“Nmecha’s been linked with many big clubs. If Southampton secure his services, I think with him and Larin you’ve got two really top-quality strikers.

“They could hurt any defence. It’s definitely an area they’re going to look at.”

Meanwhile, Nmecha has dropped a funny anecdote during that Leeds podcast appearance, responding with a wry smile when asked which teammate he enjoys winding up the most.

“I would say I don’t wind this person up the most, but I enjoy winding this person up the most. So, I would say definitely Joe Rodon because he’s so competitive, and sometimes he doesn’t understand when someone’s trying to wind him up.

“So Joe knows he’s faster than me, but I could just randomly choose on a day to say, ‘Joe, you know, if I really wanted to, I would just smoke you in a race’. And he would bite on it so bad.”