Following the departure of talismanic striker Chris Wood - whose transfer to Premier League side Burnley was ratified earlier today - Leeds United have moved briskly as the management at Elland Road seek striking reinforcements.
There is, most clearly, an exigency at Elland Road: Leeds United require a bolstering of their strikings ranks in the wake of the departure of Chris Wood - the Championship's top scorer last season.
Wood, 25, was absent from the matchday squad at the weekend as United produced a dogged, determined performance to see off the challenge of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. The New Zealand international declined to appear in the match, citing recent interest on the part of a Premier League club (now known to have been Burnley) and declaring that he didn't feel that it was in order for him to play. This message, which addressed Leeds supporters through Twitter, provoked a fierce backlash with former Queens Park Rangers striker Trevor Sinclair among those criticising the way in which the forward had behaved.
Leeds today announced the completion of the transfer (with Burnley paying a fee in the region of £15,000,000) on their Twitter account, with chairman Andrea Radrizzani issuing a statement of his own. The Italian intimated that Wood had been offered "strong financial terms" and "reasonable exit clauses".
He went on to say that the player's preference was to depart for Burnley, before adding: "We want players at Leeds who consider us a big club and we want players who are committed to our vision to return to the Premier League."
Radrizzanni concluded his statement by reassuring fans of further investment in the playing staff: "Supporters can rest assured that monies generated from the sale of Chris Wood will be reinvested into adding to the 12 signings we have made already. "
It would appear that the last quote was one of veracity, for Leeds have already begun their pursuit of attacking reinforcements. The Guardian journalist, Ed Aarons, has claimed on his Twitter account that Leeds have submitted a bid of £6,000,000 for the Middlesbrough striker Rudy Gestede.
Gestede, 28, was signed for the Boro in January this year by Victor Orta, who is now presently the director of football at Elland Road. The Benin international is a robust, 6 ft 4 target man who enjoyed notable success with Blackburn Rovers between 2014 and 2015 - he scored a highly impressive 32 goals in 60 league appearances for Rovers and was revered by the supporters at Ewood Park.
Furthermore, Leeds have also submitted an offer for NEC's 19-year-old striker Jay-Roy Grot. Phil Hay, of the Yorkshire Evening Post, broke the news earlier today. Like Gestede, Grot is a target man - he also stands at 6 ft 4 - and the forward scored five goals in 20 league appearances for Nijmegen last season.
Whether or not deals will come to pass for either player remains to be seen, but Leeds are clearly committed to securing striking reinforcements as soon as they possibly can.