Leeds United are unlikely to buy three of the strikers they have been strongly linked with signing this month, according to a reliable journalist.
Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent Phil Hay has dismissed the possibility of Peterborough goal machine Jack Marriott, Preston North End spearhead Jordan Hugill or PAOK targetman Aleksandar Prijovic joining the Championship giants before the 31 January cut-off.
In Twitter exchanges with Leeds fans in the last 24 hours, Hay said on his personal account that he “can’t see” the club paying the £6million it will need to land Marriott, and explained that Prijovic, like Hugill, would be “too expensive”.
Marriott will cost about £6m. I can’t see it.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 11, 2018
like Hugill, sounds like he’d be too expensive.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 12, 2018
United manager Thomas Christiansen admitted at his media briefing on Friday that he is keen for the club to buy a new centre-forward before the window shuts.
This is a shift from his previous stance, which was that he was happy with the strikers at his disposal.
Gazzetta Greece have claimed Serbian Prijovic is on Leeds’ radar, while Football Insider reported on Wednesday the club are in the hunt to sign Hugill from Preston, and the Mirror claimed at the start of week that they lead the chance for Peterborough’s 23-goal Marriott.
OPINION
Christiansen’s comments have sent the rumour mill into overdrive, with some claiming that he would not have spoken publicly of striker interest unless the club were working on one specific deal and were confident of pushing it through. Given the Dane’s reluctance to offer anything in the may of media titbits or generally share information, that makes much stance. There will be disappointment among the Elland Road faithful that the reliable Hay does not expect a big-money striker signing. That would be true to form from a club who have not spent more than £3million on any player in the last decade-and-a-half. New ownership, same old penny-pinching.