Leeds United still have plenty of time to dip into the market to improve their squad before the January transfer window officially slams shut at the start of next month.
Daniel Farke’s men will maintain their place at the top of the Championship table with a win over Sheffield Wednesday at Elland Road on Sunday.
They are fighting to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the second time of asking, after losing in the play-off final last term, and may look to use the window to add more quality to the group in the coming weeks.
Brighton & Hove Albion youngster Evan Ferguson is one marksman who has been linked with a loan move to Elland Road, amid interest from many clubs in the Ireland international.
Farke is also reportedly interested in going back to Borussia Monchengladbach to sign one of his former players, Nico Elvedi, to improve his defensive options.
The Whites have also been linked with additions in the attacking areas, with Emi Buendia and Louie Barry from Aston Villa, and are now said to be keen on a striker who used to play in the Premier League.
Leeds eyeing swoop for new striker
According to Football Insider, Leeds are one of the clubs interested in a swoop to sign Sevilla centre-forward Kelechi Iheanacho before the end of the window.
The report claims that Premier League sides Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers are also keen on the former Manchester City and Leicester marksman, which shows that there is serious competition for his signature this month.
It states, though, that the Whites have already made their move to sign the Nigeria international by making contact with Sevilla to discuss a possible deal for the 28-year-old number nine.
Football Insider adds that the £78k-per-week forward has been made available on loan until the end of the 2024/25 campaign, which has clearly attracted interest from a host of clubs in England – including Leeds – who are looking for attacking reinforcements without having to splash the cash on a permanent addition.
The Whites have now made their move to sign Iheanacho on loan from the LaLiga outfit but it remains to be seen whether or not he would be willing to turn down offers from the Premier League to drop back down to the Championship.
Leeds, of course, already have three senior striker options in the building, as it stands, and the arrival of another forward, like the Sevilla outcast, could push one of them out of the door.
Leeds United's strikers this season
It is fair to say that Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph have been the two go-to centre-forwards for Farke in the Championship this season, as they have started all 26 league games.
The Dutch marksman, signed from Swansea in the summer of 2023, has been the usual starter for the Whites. He has started 16 of the 26 league matches and contributed with a return of ten goals and five assists.
Joseph, meanwhile, has provided two goals and three assists in 11 starts, which is a solid, albeit unspectacular, return for a young player in his first season of semi-regular starts.
Bamford, on the other hand, has found game time hard to come by in the 2024/25 campaign. The former England international has only made ten appearances in the second tier, and all of those outings have come as a substitute, with zero goals and zero assists in that time.
The long-serving forward, who joined from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2018, has been a bit-part player under the German head coach this term and has been linked with a move away from Elland Road.
Championship side Blackburn Rovers, who are competing for a spot in the play-offs, are interested in signing the former Chelsea marksman, as confirmed by their manager John Eustace recently.
With this in mind, Leeds could finally wave bye-bye to Bamford by signing Iheanacho as his replacement for the second half of the season, as bringing the forward in would free up the space in the squad for the club to part ways with the Englishman without worrying about a lack of depth in that position.
Why Leeds should sign Kelechi Iheanacho
Firstly, signing the Sevilla outcast would provide Farke with a third striker option, alongside Joseph and Piroe, and that would allow him to sanction a move to Ewood Park for Bamford.
That would, reportedly, save £70k-per-week in wages if Blackburn take on his wages as part of a loan or sign him permanently, which could free up some funds for Leeds in the market.
Secondly, Iheanacho is said to be available on loan until the end of the season and this means that the club may not have to commit to anything long-term and would not have to splash out a fee to sign him permanently, making him the perfect short-term addition to bolster the club’s promotion ambitions.
Finally, the Nigerian forward won the Championship title with Leicester last season and has plenty of experience in English football, which means that he could hit the ground running at Elland Road.
Starts
11
10
Goals
5
5
Big chances missed
6
8
Big chances created
7
3
Assists
5
1
As you can see in the table above, the 28-year-old ace was fairly productive in his final two seasons with Leicester, scoring ten goals and creating ten ‘big chances’ in 22 starts across the Premier League and the Championship.
Iheanacho, who was once hailed as “incredible” by ex-boss Brendan Rodgers, also scored 24 goals in 61 matches for Manchester City at first-team level earlier in his career.
Whilst it has not worked out for him at Sevilla, with no goals or assists in nine LaLiga outings, his previous form in England, both at Premier League and Championship level, suggests that signing him on a short-term loan would be a worthwhile gamble for the Whites, who could also part ways with Bamford in the process.
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