Leeds United Sign Nico Elvedi from Borussia Monchengladbach

Leeds United have landed experienced Swiss defender Nico Elvedi from Borussia Monchengladbach in a deal worth up to £8.5m, handing Daniel Farke a trusted lieutenant at the heart of his back line.

The 29-year-old has signed a three-year contract at Elland Road, ending an 11-year stay in Germany and reuniting with Farke, who coached him at Monchengladbach in the 2022-23 season.

“He is also a big point for this change,” Elvedi said, pointing directly to his relationship with the Leeds manager. “It was just one year but I loved to have him as a manager. I learned a lot from him and I will learn a lot now.”

Monchengladbach accepted an offer of £6.8m up front, with a further £1.7m in add-ons, for a player who became a cornerstone of their defence. Elvedi leaves having made 364 appearances for the Bundesliga club, a figure that underlines his durability and status.

On the international stage, his pedigree is just as clear. Elvedi has 73 caps for Switzerland and played every minute of their run to the quarter-finals of the most recent World Cup, anchoring a back line that refused to bend easily on the biggest stage.

For Leeds, this is not a vanity signing. It is their fourth addition of the summer window, following the arrivals of James Trafford, Harry Wilson and fellow defender Tarik Muharemovic, and it reshapes the defensive pecking order immediately.

The impact was felt straight away. Elvedi’s arrival opened the door for Sebastiaan Bornauw to leave Elland Road and join Hamburg on a season-long loan, a clear sign that Farke sees the Swiss centre-back as a starter rather than a squad option.

Leeds have been busy trimming and tuning their attack as well. Earlier on Wednesday, striker Joel Piroe completed a season-long loan move to West Ham, another piece of business that shifts the balance of Farke’s squad.

Experience, familiarity with the manager, and a career spent in one of Europe’s toughest leagues — Elvedi brings all of it with him. Now he has three years in Yorkshire to prove that his next chapter can be as influential as his last.