Did Leeds get cold feet over £600k Birmingham player?

McDermott is keen on landing a new winger to boost his attacking options and is believed to have enquired about signing Birmingham’s Chris Burke, 29, on Monday, according to Midlands sources.

But the fee offered no value for McDermott, mindful of the age of the player and the fact he is out of contract in June.

Ironically, former United chief Neil Warnock tried to sign Burke on the last day of the winter window in January, only for the move to fall through.

McDermott said: “We made an enquiry for a wide player who is 30 (sic) years of age and they wanted 600 grand for him. It didn’t make sense to me.

“It’s got to make sense and be financially right as well as the right player. In eight months’ time, he’ll be a free transfer.”

On the outgoing front, a proposed loan deal for a United player – thought to be Aidan White – to move to Barnsley fell through on Monday.

McDermott added: “We had a deal for a player to go out on loan. He didn’t want to go and that’s fair enough, no problem. I had no problem with that as he wants to fight for his place; he’s been here a long time.”

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