Leeds eye up triple transfer swoop as trio arrive at training ground

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Published on:

17 Jan 2017, 8:25 am

By Alex Stevens

Three unnamed players are on trial at Leeds as the club eye a January triple swoop, it emerged on Tuesday.

The high flying Championship club named three trialists in their Under-23s side that featured in a friendly against Burnley at lunchtime.

Leeds' development side lost the match 1-0 at the club's Thorp Arch training headquarters against the youth team selected by their second-tier rivals.

There was mystery as to the identity of the trialist trio as Leeds took the unusual measure of withholding their names, listing them as 'Trialist A, 'Trialist B' and 'Trialist C' in the announcement of the starting XI on their official club Twitter account.

📋 United: Trialist A, M. Taylor, Trialist B, Trialist C, Downing, Nicell, Wollerton, Whitehouse, Stokes, Kamwa, Wilks.
— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 17, 2017

However, it was clear that one of the trio is a goalkeeper as the Leeds Twitter account reported that he made a number of saves during the match.

Judging by how the other two players were ordered in the starting XI, placed either side of full-back pairing Matthew Downing and M Taylor, they are both centre-backs.

26' Trialist A makes a really good save from a Burnley deflected free-kick, to prevent the Clarets from going further in front 0-1
— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 17, 2017

Clubs hand trials to emerging players when they assess them over a defined period of time with a view to offering them contracts.

Leeds could hand the trio deals in the next two weeks, before the 31 January transfer cut-off.

Jason Blunt's Under-23s side otherwise featured the latest emerging stars from one of the most prolific academies in the country, including forwards Eoghan Stokes and Mallik Wilks.

Leeds' senior team have not yet signed any players in the January window, although manager Garry Monk has said he is keen on attacking reinforcements.

In other Leeds transfer news, an Elland Road icon is in advanced talks to join a Premier League club this month for £3million.

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