Tonight’s Evening Post is reporting that Dennis Wise could try to take Jermal Johnson on loan for a second time

Tonight’s Evening Post is reporting that Dennis Wise could try to take Jermal Johnson on loan for a second time, even though he chose not to keep the player at Elland Road when his original loan deal finished at the end of last season.   

22-year-old Johnson is one of a number of possible forwards that Wise is considering, as Leeds are now short of cover up front after Leon Constantine was ruled out of action for three months. Constantine has been sidelined by the ankle injury he sustained in the pre-season friendly at Liberec, and he is not expected to be available until the middle of November at the earliest. 

 Wise also has a slight concern over Tore Andre Flo, who still hasn’t fully recovered from the fractured foot he suffered last season, and is currently four weeks away from reaching full fitness. So he is likely to give Johnson another opportunity, even though the American made only three league starts during almost three months during his loan spell last year, before Wise declined to take up the option to sign him permanently in the summer.   

Johnson remains under contract at Wolves but appears to have no place in Mick McCarthy's plans following the summer arrival of Freddy Eastwood. McCarthy would be willing to release the striker, but Wolves appear keen to recoup a portion of the undisclosed fee they paid Blackburn last year and it is unclear whether they would agree to a second loan deal.

Wise is aiming to sign two centre-backs before the transfer window closes on August 31 and Leeds are also being linked with Lubomir Michalik, the Slovakian defender who was on loan at Elland Road from Bolton last season.  

But an even more pressing problem is the lack of a second choice goalkeeper, as we had to play against Tranmere and Macclesfield without a keeper among the substitutes. Leeds have already decided against signing Watford keeper Scott Loach on loan, while we don’t seem to have pursued our earlier interest in Motherwell's Alan Martin. Youth team goalkeeper Johnathan Lund is likely to be out until November due to injury.

One bit of good news is that Shaun Derry and Gulfi Einarsson have both finally been able to start training after injuries kept them out of the pre-season games and the two competitive games so far.

Photo: Action Images

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