Leeds United are set to ditch plans to sign Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster in January, according to Football Insider.
Brewster had emerged as a potential candidate for Director of Football Victor Orta to target next month should Arsenal trigger their option to recall Eddie Nketiah, but the £3.6million-rated youngster has now fallen down the Whites’ transfer shortlist.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is open to sending Brewster out on loan when the transfer window opens next month, though Swansea City and Huddersfield Town are understood to be ahead of us in the race for his signature.
Orta may now look entirely elsewhere to replace Nketiah if the Gunners recall the England U21 forward, with it now believed that Southampton striker Che Adams is seen to be a more realistic target by figures at Elland Road.
Adams joined the Saints for £15m in the summer after impressing the Premier League strugglers with his efforts in the Championship for Birmingham City, but the 23-year-old has not yet managed to score a single goal for the south coast side.
The 5 ft 8 forward had been a prolific hitman in the second-tier before securing his £50,000-per-week contract at St. Mary’s, with Adams striking the back of the net 22 times in 46 second-tier outings in 2018/19.
Who would you prefer to have at Elland Road come February?
Nketiah
Brewster
Adams
Neither
Only former Brentford forward Neal Maupay, now of Brighton & Hove Albion, held a higher goal contribution rate than Adams, with the Leicester-born attacker’s 22 accounting for 34% of Birmingham’s total goals for the season.
His struggles to adapt to Premier League football may now see Adams on the move again in January, and Leeds chiefs are said to have lodged our interest in offering the former England U20 international a temporary move.
Nottingham Forest are currently leading the race for Adams if Southampton do sanction a deal, though Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa is striving to see the forward come to Elland Road having given the green light to his potential arrival.
Forest have already tabled an offer to the Saints for Adams, having seen Lewis Grabban strike ten of their 28 league goals so far this season.
In other Leeds United news, is has been claimed that the club’s pursuit of a free-scoring attacker has hit the rocks.