Bournemouth 'hijack Leeds United bid for Norwich City defender Max Aarons'

Bournemouth have reportedly moved to the brink of beating Leeds United in the race to sign Norwich City defender Max Aarons.

The full-back has spent his entire professional career at Carrow Road, contributing six goals and 17 assists from 213 appearances in all competitions.

However, since he first burst onto the scene, the former England Under-21 international has been heavily linked to one of the bigger teams in the Premier League.

A transfer is yet to materialise, Aarons not helped by featuring in two relegation campaigns with the Canaries and a failed promotion bid from the Championship in 2022-23.

Nevertheless, with less than a year remaining on his contract and Aarons ready for a new challenge, he is destined to move elsewhere before the end of the month.

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Leeds - now managed by former Norwich boss Daniel Farke - have been heavily linked with Aarons in recent days, the assumption being that they had a free run at the player.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, that is no longer the case with Bournemouth having hijacked the deal and tempted Aarons to the South Coast.

Romano says that Norwich have accepted an offer of £7m plus add-ons from the Cherries, who continue to transform their squad under new head coach Andoni Iraola.

Interest is said to have been dropped in Atalanta BC's Joakim Maehle in order to focus on finalising a deal for Aarons.

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Aarons is now scheduled to undergo a medical at Bournemouth ahead of completing a move to the Vitality Stadium before Saturday's Premier League opener against West Ham United.

Adam Smith and Ryan Fredericks are Bournemouth's current options at right-back, with Milos Kerkez expected to be first choice on the opposite side of the defence.

Goalkeeper Ionut Radu and winger Justin Kluivert have arrived from Inter Milan and Roma respectively, while Bournemouth have turned Hamed Traore's loan spell into a permanent stay.

From Leeds' perspective, they are not short of options in either full-back area, yet Aarons would have represented a statement signing as they bid to start fast in this year's Championship.