OPINION
When Peterborough United signed Jack Marriott for £450,000 from Luton Town last summer, few expected him to be the second-highest goalscorer in English league football come January.
Marriott has quite literally exploded into the best form of his life at Posh, scoring 23 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions so far this season, with 17 in League One.
His record for former club Luton was decent, with 28 goals in 91 appearances for the Hatters, but no one could have expected the kind of goalscoring form that the 23-year-old finds himself in currently.
That is especially considering the fact that Marriott failed to make an impact at boyhood club Ipswich Town, or at Carlisle United, Gillingham and Colchester.
The only place that Marriott had previously found success was with non-league Woking Town, where he scored 16 goals in 41 appearances over two loan spells.
The speedy goal machine is now in exalted company in English football, currently trailing only Harry Kane as the top scorer in the four professional leagues.
His 17 League One goals puts him just one behind Kane, and level with Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah.
It is no surprise then that Marriott looks to be in line for another move up the league pyramid, this time to the Championship.
As reported by HITC, Peterborough have fielded three bids from Championship sides this week for Marriott, one at the £3.5million mark, and two coming in at £4million.
As previously claimed by the Mirror, the three clubs that have been linked with Marriott before this report are Aston Villa, Hull, and Leeds United.
And the Whites must come out on top in that three-way battle.
There were big hopes for summer signing Pierre-Michel Lasogga, who arrived with vast experience in the Bundesliga.
A lightning start from the German raised those hopes even further, but they have been dashed with some distinctly average performances since.
Caleb Ekuban, another summer signing, has shown some great promise, but he has struggled massively with injury, and is again set for a spell on the sidelines.
Kemar Roofe has probably been Leeds best option in attack this season, but he often looks isolated up top, and in many ways looks more comfortable on the wing.
Leeds’ best attacking outlet has been Spaniard Samu Saiz, yet another summer acquisition, with the £3million man from Huesca scoring five goals and providing five assists in 22 Championship games.
However, Saiz is about to start a six-match ban after being found guilty of spitting at an opponent during their embarrassing FA Cup loss to Newport County.
That will be a devastating blow for Thomas Christiansen in the next month or so.
Where are the goals now going to come from as the Whites look to secure that all-important play-off spot?
Lasogga? Doutbful.
Ekuban? When he’s fit, maybe.
Roofe? Occasionally.
They need a real goalscorer to secure them three points on a regular basis, and who better than the man who is ripping up League One?
Marriott is clearly ready for a step up in competition, and now is the time for Leeds to inject a new attacking force.
If they decide to rely on their current options, and wait for Saiz to return from his ban, their hopes of a play-off place may well go up in smoke.