Newcastle United and Leeds United face competition for breakout Champions League star

Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt are the latest clubs to show an interest in Newcastle United target Leon King.

The Rangers defender has come to the attention of several clubs in the Premier League, with Manchester United and Leeds United also credited with an interest in the Scotland Under-21 international.

The 18-year-old centre-back has risen through the ranks at Ibrox and is now a regular feature in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s senior squad.  King made a surprise start in the recent Champions League defeat against Liverpool and made a substitute appearance in the return game between the two sides last week.  He could now earn a sustained run in Van Bronckhorst’s side after Connor Goldson was ruled out until the new year with an injury he suffered against the Reds.

Speaking after making a 90 minute appearances in Rangers’ weekend win against Motherwell, King stressed his determination to keep improving as speculation over his future continues to dominate the headlines.

He told the club website: “It is amazing, but I need to keep my head down and keep going.  I just need to keep working with the coaching staff every single day to make myself better. Other than midweek, that is the first time I have played alongside Ben (Davies) in a game in the Premiership - that was good and hopefully we can build something going forward.”

King has 18 months remaining on the contract extension he agreed earlier this year and several clubs are said to be keen to persuade him to move away from Rangers in the near future.  Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester United are all believed to have watched the defender in action over the last month but Football Insider have now reported interest from the Bundesliga.

They have claimed Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt have now ‘entered the race’ to sign King and believe they can persuade him to move to Germany and follow the examples set by Jude Bellingham and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens by becoming a young British talent flourishing in the Bundesliga.