Leeds United are in a better position now the club know they are out of the race to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, with days to react rather than it happening on deadline day, according to Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Graham Smyth.
The Yorkshire club were the first club to make and have a bid rejected for the big Norwegian centre-forward, but now according to GIVEMESPORT senior correspondent Ben Jacobs on Thursday morning, Crystal Palace have stolen a march on their Premier League rivals and agreed a deal worth £45m, plus £5m in add-ons, for the 25-year-old.
Leeds now have less than five days – rather than hours – to source a potential alternative to Strand Larsen for Daniel Farke.
Leeds Have Time to ‘Pull Rabbit out of the Hat’
According to Smyth, posting on X, Leeds have been keen to stress that they won’t sign any old striker for the sake of it before Monday’s deadline, with Strand Larsen seen as a really good mid-season opportunity.
However, the 49ers will be well aware that they are just six points ahead of a West Ham team who are starting to pick up some positive results, and they don’t want to be sucked into the relegation zone in the coming weeks.
The Whites are in a difficult position too because Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been in form and if a striker was brought in they would have to share the centre-forward position, but at the same time they also have to have the England international’s previous injury record in the back of their minds in case something did happen.
Smyth says that the fact that Leeds know they are out of the race on Thursday means they can now explore the opportunity of pulling a rabbit out of the hat in terms of a new striker in the next days.
Who Could Leeds Target Instead?
Leeds striker links aside from Strand Larsen haven’t been too frequent this month, with the club clearly seeing the 6 ft 4 colossus as their number one target.
However, there have also been reports that they have an interest in signing former Tottenham striker Troy Parrott, with the Republic of Ireland international scoring 20 goals this season for AZ Alkmaar.
Another name Leeds have been reported to have an interest in is Derby County’s Patrick Agyemang, with reports last week suggesting the Yorkshire club had made an approach to the Championship club over a potential January deal.
The striker situation is certainly one to watch for Leeds up until the deadline on Monday.