Leeds United news as Victor Orta issues update on…

Leeds United news as Victor Orta issues update on Whites' TV numbers and shirt sales

Here are the latest Leeds United morning headlines on Thursday, 8 December.

Orta on stature of Leeds United

Victor Orta has claimed Leeds United are among the Premier League's best for TV figures, shirt sales and attendances. Orta says that the Whites are behind only the 'big six' when it comes to pulling in TV numbers, and even higher in selling jerseys.

Speaking to Onda Cero ahead of tonight's friendly at Elche, he said: “Although someone doubted that [Elche owner Christian] Bragarnik was going to bring a top-level rival to this tournament, Leeds is the seventh team in Premier League television audience, the fourth in jersey sales, the one that buys the most tickets from visiting fans and the second with the second highest percentage of attendance at its stadium, only surpassed by Liverpool; that opinion proves to be banal and sheer ignorance."

Gakpo on summer

Netherlands and PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo has revealed that he has received no contact from Manchester United over a possible move to the Premier League - but admitted his dilemma over a move to Leeds United in the summer. The attacker has lit up the World Cup with his dazzling displays for the Netherlands - scoring three goals in four games to help set-up a quarter-final against Argentina.

His scintillating form at the World Cup has come off the back of an impressive season for PSV, which has seen him notch 13 goals and 17 assists in 24 games across all competitions. He was linked with a summer move to Man United, but that did not materialise and the 23-year-old, who also revealed that Leeds United made a move for him, admitted to panicking.

Gakpo says he is in a better place to deal with speculation now and would entertain a move to United, where he could follow manager Erik ten Hag, Lisandro Martinez and Antony from the Eredivisie.

"That was a tough period," Gakpo said in Dutch newspaper NRC. "I learned from that. I'm going to do it differently. What comes, that comes. Suppose you want to go from RKC (Waalwijk) to PSV, but that club is not coming. Then you can panic."

Squad revealed

Leeds United play their first friendly ahead of the return of the Premier League this evening as they face Elche in Spain. Jesse Marsch will be without a few key players but is still set to have a relatively strong set of players to choose from against La Liga's bottom-placed side.

The American's two goalkeeping options will be Joel Robles and Dani van den Heuvel, with both Illan Meslier and Kristoffer Klaesson still at home due to illness. In defence, Rasmus Kristensen and Junior Firpo will not be available, while Diego Llorente is a doubt after undergoing hand surgery this week and Robin Koch's involvement is also uncertain after feeling some discomfort in his calf/Achilles during Tuesday's session.

That means Luke Ayling, Cody Drameh, Liam Cooper, Leo Hjelde and Pascal Struijk will be the only defensive options at his disposal later today. Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson will not be back training with the squad until Monday after their World Cup exploits, while Luis Sinisterra and Stuart Dallas are continuing their comeback from injuries.