The odds have dropped on Leeds United signing Middlesbrough striker Rudy Gestede before the transfer window shuts next week.
Sky Bet priced the Yorkshire giants at 15/8 on Friday morning to land the giant forward, 28, ahead of the 31 August cut-off.
But the odds have narrowed in the last 48 hours and on Sunday morning Leeds were 6/4 to snare Gestede from promotion rivals Boro.
The bookies regard it as marginally more likely that Gestede will remain at the Riverside Stadium but the short price on him moving to Elland Road is indicative of the club’s strong interest, as is the fact that no other club is in the running.
It has been widely reported that Leeds had a £6million bid for 6ft 4in Gestede rejected by Boro, but the Yorkshire Evening Post report that Boro are holding out for their £10million valuation to be met.
Leeds are in the market for a new front man despite signing Jay-Roy Grot from Dutch club NEC on Thursday for an initial £750,000 in a deal that could rise to £1.5million.
Grot made his debut as a second-half substitute in the team’s 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
OPINION
With Britt Assombalonga, Martin Braithwaite and Ashley Fletcher all signed this summer, and Gestede and Patrick Bamford already on the books, ex-Leeds manager Garry Monk appears to have an embarrassment of striker riches at his disposal. But Boro have still found goals hard to come by, with five league fixtures yielding just four goals. Gestede and Assombalonga were paired up front for yesterday’s goalless draw against Preston and it is key that the giant forward wanted by Leeds is playing regularly under Monk. It will therefore need a mighty bid for Leeds to prise Gestede from the Riverside by next Thursday.