Leeds United don’t have a great deal of room to work around their PSR threshold in the remainder of January, so a deal to sign Jorgen Strand Larsen appears problematic.

Leeds’ chances of survival right now appear quite high. If you’re take Opta’s predictions as gospel, they fancy us with a 93.4% chance of staying up.

It shows how well Daniel Farke’s done to get Leeds scoring and winning to be in this position. But, this window gives us an opportunity to kick on further with more firepower added to the side.

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Why Leeds United are going to find Jorgen Strand Larsen transfer difficult

An enquiry for Jorgen Strand Larsen was a statement of Leeds’ intent in the striker market this January. As reports emerged last week of the Whites asking the question to Wolves, there wasn’t a formal offer lodged to go with it.

Leeds United enquired to sign Jorge Strand Larsen from Wolves. (REUTERS/Scott Heppell)

The reason being that Leeds might find any deal to sign Strand Larsen incredibly troublesome. Managing director Robbie Evans stated this just after the summer window shut:

“So on, PSR, as mentioned before this, unequivocally, we are maxing out PSR this season, just as last season and the season before,” Evans said, per the YEP.

After a £100million outlay and very few notable outgoings, Leeds don’t have a great deal of wriggle room on PSR thresholds to finance a deal for Strand Larsen.

What doesn’t help our cause is reports emerging that Crystal Palace have held talks with Wolves over the Norwegian. Not only does that add another club to the mix, but their approach was met with a £40million price tag – well out of Leeds’ remit.

Sunderland set example to Leeds United on how to work around PSR limits

So, the only way Leeds are going to find funds to secure someone of Strand Larsen’s calibre is through a major sale.

Evans also explained Sunderland’s ability to spend huge amounts in the summer. It was largely due to £37million sales of Jobe Bellingham and Tommy Watson.

Sunderland cashed in on Jobe Bellingham straight after promotion, bankrolling their monumental summer transfer window. (Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs)

“As far as the relative aggression or ambition financially between Leeds and Sunderland – they are fascinating, duelling case studies,” Evans continued. “So Sunderland has, in my view, the perfect storm in a good way of creating PSR room.

“Between the combination of, as far as I’m aware, little or no operating loss last two seasons, very low wage bill, gets promoted, sells their top talents for 10s of millions, and now is effectively carrying no prior losses and a player sale profit in the Premier League, where they have a 48,000 person stadium waiting for them to sell out every game.”

If Leeds want to get Strand Larsen signed, we need to find a sale – preferably in the eight-figure region.

Leeds United must follow Sunderland with brutal Joel Piroe transfer decision

Looking at Leeds’ squad, there are a number of ‘saleable’ assets that aren’t getting the game time that their transfer value would reflect.

You could argue Willy Gnonto or Ao Tanaka would fetch a massive sum while not being starters. But, Leeds have fielded a lot of interest in Joel Piroe already this month.

The issue with Piroe leaving is that the Suriname striker is now looking to sit tight at the club. That is despite being very obviously our fourth-choice striker. He’s behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lukas Nmecha, Noah Okafor, and you could even argue Brenden Aaronson now. His position in the squad weakens further if Leeds are to get a striker signing.

It’s a tough decision to make after Piroe helped fire the club to promotion. His iconic four-goal haul on the day we went up shouldn’t ever be forgotten. However, if Leeds want to break free of our current PSR shackles, Piroe is one valuable asset that Farke has already proven he can survive without.

That would be a brutal decision to make, but seemingly necessary and one that could propel Leeds into a huge long-term addition, like Strand Larsen could be.

Read more: Harry Wilson leaning towards Fulham exit amid previous Leeds United interest.