Leeds United hoping patience is rewarded in hunt for striker

For Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch and those in the corridors of power at the club, that is the devout wish between now and September 1.

Leeds have reinvested hard cash from the sales of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips to strategically address deficient areas of the squad which needed rectifying with Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams, Luis Sinisterra, Marc Roca and Rasmus Kristensen arriving in the close season.

Bringing in the other key piece of the jigsaw in the shape of a new goalscoring option – and someone with proven pedigree in the Premier League or in Europe – is proving the hard bit.

Leeds tried and failed to sign Club Brugge forward Charles De Ketalaere for £33.5m. He opted to join AC Milan instead.

The club have been linked with a host of other strikers. Fresh names and targets could well emerge in the days and week ahead and Leeds have money to spend on the right candidate.

Finding a player not just proficient at scoring goals, but fitting into Marsch’s pressing style and possessing the character that he and director of football Victor Orta desire from a player are other factors.

According to Marsch, another consideration is not ‘suffocating’ the longer-term development of some of the young forwards expected to be knocking on the door of the first team in the next year or two.

Marsch, whose side visit Southampton tomorrow, said: “We’ve said for a long time that we’ve been evaluating for the right striker.

“But Patrick (Bamford) being fully fit obviously helps us in that area.

“We also have some flexibility. Rodrigo can play there. And Dan (James) can play there at times, but I think that we know we have some good young strikers and obviously Joffy (Joe Gelhardt). But Joffy are considered part of the first group.

“We’ve some good young strikers, so a lot of it is also trying to look at it from a profile, what age we want and that we don’t want to suffocate some of them having opportunities moving forward in the next one to three years.

“So it’s trying to find the right age profile and the right player profile and most importantly, the right person to come into the team. As a striker that’s not so easy, with the way that I like to play the game.

“We ask a lot from the strikers to work hard to press, it’s a very demanding position in the way that I like to play. So we’re trying to find the right one.”

Leeds head to the south coast for tomorrow’s game with strong numbers to choose from.

James returns from suspension, while Adam Forshaw and captain Liam Cooper are back in the fray alongside Sinisterra, who United fans could get their first competitive sight of tomorrow.

The Colombian international, who joined from Dutch outfit Feyenoord for £21m, is available after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained on the club’s pre-season tour of Australia.

A cameo from the bench is likely to be the extent of his involvement at St Mary’s.

Marsch said: “When he picked up the hamstring injury, it was from a contact, which is not the same as when it’s from a non-contact. Then what the recovery is like can be different as well.

“So we’ve been cautious, but he’s felt so good that we introduced him in training and then he was like a neutral player one day and then (on Wednesday) he was ‘all in’ and he looks fantastic.

“He’s obviously not 100 per cent fit, but I still think there’s a good possibility that he can help us with limited minutes.”

In terms of those facing medium or longer spells out, Junior Firpo and Luke Ayling are progressing well, while the sight of Stuart Dallas on the training pitch at Thorp Arch lifted many people’s spirits and not just his own this week.

Given the nature of Dallas’s serious leg injury at the end of April, Marsch is understandably loath to talk about specific targets in terms of his long recuperation.

Psychologically, the Northern Irishman did at least clear one hurdle this week.

Marsch added: “I saw him on the pitch today (Thursday), moving around a little bit. So that was an exciting moment for us.

“I think it’s much too early to start talking about the prognosis and a timetable for Stuart, but any of you who knows Stuart will know that his energy and his positivity and his personality is so amazing.

“He’s here every day and he wants to be around the team as much as possible. And he still has such a positive impact on the group.

“I think because of all those personality traits, it gives him a really good chance to come back as good as ever.

“So that’s what we’re all pushing and hoping for.”

Just as Sinisterra will most likely assume bench duties tomorrow, so James is likely to start from there with the presence of two pace merchants to come on as substitutes potentially representing a couple of trump cards at the disposal for Marsch on another very hot day in England.

He continued: “Dan played 90 minutes in the Under-21s game against Derby, and I thought he thought he played well. He’s fit, strong and ready to go. I think it’ll be a big option for us to have him come from the bench.”