Leeds may return for Iheanacho in January after missing out on him during summer transfer window

ENGLISH Premier league giants Leeds United could make a fresh bid for Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho during the forthcoming January transfer window after missing out on signing him this week.

Currently flying high in the league, Leeds United had been unfortunate with injuries to strikers with Patrick Bamford limping off during the first game of the season and Spaniard Rodrigo Moreno suffering a dislocated shoulder in their last match. This led to a frantic dash to sign a striker on deadline line day last Thursday, with Italian teenager Wilfried Gnonto eventually being signed from FC Zurich in Switzerland.

Leeds had been working no s shortlist that included Iheanacho, Gnonto, Marseille's Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng and PSV Eindhoven's Cody Gakpo. Transfer day traumas led to all the other deals collapsing due to one reason or the other, with Iheanacho's own case being down to Leeds and Leicester unable to agree on a valuation of the striker.

Iheanacho, 25, joined Leicester back in the 2017 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £25m. He came from Manchester City where he scored 21 goals in 64 senior appearances and since joining the Foxes, he has found the back of the net 47 times and supplied 29 assists in 176 appearances across all competitions.

Bearing in mind how Leeds were on the verge of securing a deadline day transfer for Dieng before the deal collapsed, a move for Iheanacho might have been the better option for sporting director Victor Orta to focus all his attention on. Having appeared in 172 Premier League games throughout his career, Iheanacho certainly has the experience over Dieng and therefore a higher chance of being able to hit the ground running at Elland Road.

If Mr Orta Leeds had focused on potentially securing a deal for Iheanacho ahead of Dieng before the summer transfer window closed, he may have saved the club the drama and hassle that ensued. Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn’s Ben Brereton-Diaz and Swansea’s Joel Piroe were also looked at late on by the Whites.

Iheanacho has spent almost all of his spell at Leicester playing as second-choice striker behind Jamie Vardy and he is yet to start a Premier League game this season for Brendan Rodgers. He has scored regularly in Europe and some argue would have been perfect genuine competition for Patrick Bamford.