Warnock anxious to hang on to Snodgrass but Leeds’s resolve could well be tested over White

As the much-touted takeover of the Championship club edges closer with each passing day, talk about potential arrivals and departures at Elland Road is on the increase.

Snodgrass, as revealed yesterday by the Yorkshire Post, has been the subject of an unsuccessful £1.5m bid from Norwich City but White appears more and more likely to be heading for the exit door amid strong interest from Derby manager Nigel Clough.

Sources in the East Midlands have indicated that a bid of £500,000 has been made for the out-of-contract 20-year-old, who is also believed to be interesting Ipswich Town and Celtic.

The loss of White would be a blow, though Warnock has already brought in Adam Drury from Norwich as a replacement.

Snodgrass, however, is a different matter altogether with the United manager being desperate to hang on to someone he made captain within a few days of taking over in February.

The Scot has less than a year remaining on his contract and has so far declined to sign new terms that would have made him the highest-paid player at the club.

Norwich’s interest was not welcomed by Warnock, though the paltry sum on offer did at least mean the club was able to turn the bid down without much thinking.

Whether new Canaries manager Chris Hughton returns with an improved offer remains to be seen but until Snodgrass can be persuaded to sign a new contract there is always the danger of one of the Football League’s hottest prospects being lured away, as the Leeds manager admits.

Warnock said: “It has been made public that they have bid, but from our point of view it is now what we are looking for.

“We would like to keep Rob, and Rob knows that. Whether that will be possible, we will have to wait and see.

“It is difficult when players get their heads turned but I would like to keep Rob at the club and that is what I am trying to do at the moment.

“Unless they come up with a valuation that the club thinks is satisfactory then that is what we want to do.”

Ross McCormack is another of United’s contract rebels whose future remains uncertain, though with three clubs bidding to sign the striker that could well change within the next few days.

Talks are understood to have taken place with Brighton & Hove Albion over a possible swap deal that would see Craig Mackail-Smith move in the opposite direction.

Huddersfield Town are also keen, while Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers are monitoring the situation.

In terms of possible new arrivals, Luke Varney’s move to Elland Road from Portsmouth was edging closer last night while Leeds remain keen on Leicester City full-back Lee Peltier.

The 25-year-old is also being tracked by former club Huddersfield with the suggestion in the Midlands being that he has returned home from the Foxes’ pre-season trip to Austria in order to try to settle his future.

Leicester paid £750,000 for Peltier a year ago when Sven Goran Eriksson was in charge and he went on to make 47 appearances last term.

However, manager Nigel Pearson is understood to be keen to go in a different direction next season and it appears the two West Yorkshire clubs are locked in a fight for the one-time Liverpool apprentice.

United manager Warnock is in the market for a right-back after previously failing with a concerted attempt to sign £400,000-rated Joel Ward from Portsmouth.

Leeds’s spending power is likely to have been increased by yesterday’s sale of Andy Lonergan to Bolton Wanderers for £250,000.

Last week’s capture of Paddy Kenny meant the former Preston goalkeeper was surplus to requirements and Trotters manager Owen Coyle beat off competition from Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.