Leeds are interested in signing Celtic striker Derek Riordan, but not at an asking price of £1 million.

Leeds initially tried to bring Riordan to Elland Road on loan in January, and we are now looking to sign the 25 year-old on a permanent basis.  The striker scored over 60 goals in three seasons for Hibs, but his career seems to have stalled at Parkhead, where he has made only 13 starts since he moved to Celtic two years ago.

In April he told the Yorkshire Post "I've virtually chucked it at Celtic. What's the point when I'm not getting a chance? I've been here two years and it's not happened yet so I don't see it happening now. I like it here and would love to prove myself but the nasty thing is not playing."

But even though the player is clearly unsettled, our former legend Gordon Strachan still wants his old mate Mc.Allister to pay a transfer fee of around £1 million. The Celtic boss has already turned down a bid of £400,000 from Burnley, and four other clubs are also interested in signing Riordan.

Presumably Riordan is being lined up as a replacement for Freedman, whose seems unlikely to stay on at Elland Road now that his loan spell has finished.  Riordan has one Scottish cap and his eight league starts at Celtic have produced five goals, so the chances are that he could do a good job for us in League One.

But £1 million is clearly beyond our present budget, and we will have to hope that none of the other interested parties can match that figure either. Our best bet is that Strachan decides to drop his asking price to a more realistic level, in order to get a transfer fee for Riordan while he still has a year left on his contract.  

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