Leeds face a fight to land USA international Brenden Aaronson with Red Bull Salzburg reluctant to sell him this month.
Salzburg have knocked back a £15million offer for Aaronson and do not want to lose him this window.
The Austrian Bundesliga leaders have reached the Champions League knock-out stages for the first time and want to retain all their best players until the summer at least.
They face Bayern Munich in the first leg of their last 16 tie next month with the return in March.
Leeds are maintaining their interest in Aaronson after failing with their initial offer and it is understood the attacking midfielder is keen to move to the Premier League.
Salzburg could make a sizeable profit on Aaronson after paying £5million for him to MLS outfit Philadelphia Union a year ago.
Salzburg’s business model is based on developing younger players before selling them for a profit as they have done with Erling Haaland and Naby Keita.
But the Austrian champions do not need to cash in because of their wealthy Red Bull owners and are determined to resist Leeds’ advances.
Leeds may have to wait until the summer to land Aaronson when Salzburg may be prepared to do business.
Leeds director of football Victor Orta has identified Aaronson as a player who could develop under Marcelo Bielsa’s tutelage at Elland Road.
He would add creativity to Leeds and he has scored three goals and made seven assists this season for Salzburg.
He also netted twice for the USA this season in their World Cup qualifying campaign and has great potential.
Bielsa refused to discuss Leeds’ efforts to sign Aaronson, but their interest is clear.
Leeds head coach said: “I prefer to speak about a player when it’s not a hypothetical possibility, but is our player.”
Bielsa has more immediate concerns and he revealed that Patrick Bamford has faces longer on the sidelines after picking up a FOURTH injury this season.
Bamford has not started a game for Leeds since September 17 because of a series of injuries.
Bielsa says he has recovered from this muscle injury only to suffer a foot problem.
“Bamford has an injury at the bottom of his foot,” he said. “He’s overcome his muscle problem and now he has an issue at the bottom of his foot.”
The Argentinian has not put a timescale on Bamford’s recovery and his continued absence is hugely frustrating for Leeds.
Bielsa did report some better news on the injury front for Saturday’s game against Newcastle and Tyler Roberts and Joe Gelhardt will return.
Rodrigo also reported no ill effects for his cameo on his return from injury against West Ham on Sunday and is also added to the squad.
Sam Greenwood is out after having knee surgery and Bielsa claims it is unusual to have so many injuries in one position.
“What is very intriguing is not so much how many injuries there are, but players are getting injured who play in the same position,” he said.
