Leeds must swoop now as reported striker target jets into England for talks, move likely – reliable journalist
COMMENT
Striker Ross McCormack is booked on a 6am flight back to the UK for talks with Aston Villa, and Leeds must position themselves in the centre of any discussion about where the striker goes next. It marks the end of a successful loan spell with Melbourne City where the striker scored 14 goals in 16 games. Simon Peach, a prominent reporter with the Press Association, posted the tweet on his personal Twitter page on Thursday morning.
The Australian club want him back but it appears unlikely after Peach said they faced an "uphill battle". It also appears unlikely that he will get game time at Aston Villa after he had a falling out with Steve Bruce. Bruce will not want anyone disrupting the changing room with his team on a run in fourth and only three points off an automatic promotion spot. Leeds were reported to be plotting a £4.5m move for McCormack – the
ran the story – and Thomas Christiansen must make his move now with the player due back in England and likely to want a move before the end of the January window. Leeds managing director Angus Kinnear said that Leeds would be willing to stretch themselves and take a gamble for a player that could score 12 goals between now and the rest of the season. Talking on BBC Radio Leeds last night he said: “I think if we could identify that player [to fire Leeds to the Premier League] and we had to stretch financially to make it work, we’d make it work."
"We’re a board who are prepared to make calculated gambles but finding a combination of someone who we think can do that at his level and can hit the ground running and score 12 goals between now and the end of the season is challenging."
McCormack, who has scored 14 in 16 games this season, and who scored 58 goals in 157 games for Leeds is the man they should take a gamble on. They might even be able to get him on loan, with Aston Villa running out of time to find him a new club before the window shuts. The only problem is that Leeds are a direct promotion rival to Villa but Christiansen must do all he can to ensure that he can overcome that hurdle and sign the player that can score 12 goals between now and the play-off spot that Leeds crave. In other Leeds news,
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