Jorgen Strand Larsen and his agent “like the idea of a move to Elland Road” as Leeds United continue to pursue a move for the Wolves striker, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.
The Yorkshire side have made a good fist of it in their first season back in the Premier League with Daniel Farke’s side 16th in the table after a 1-1 draw against Everton over the weekend.
Their attacking output has been pretty good too with seven sides scoring fewer goals than Farke’s promoted outfit, whose top goalscorer is Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
But Leeds are looking to bring in another striker before the winter transfer deadline as they look to give Calvert-Lewin some competition and cover.
Wolves striker Strand Larsen has emerged as their top target despite his poor goal record this term, scoring just once in the Premier League for the West Midlands side.
It was recently revealed that Leeds have had a first offer rejected for the Norway international and now Ornstein has revealed that the Whites are still trying.
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Ornstein insists that the ‘pursuit is ongoing’ and that Strand Larsen and his agent – who supports Leeds – ‘like the idea of a move to Elland Road’.
The Athletic reporter adds that the Strand Larsen transfer ‘is one of the main situations to keep an eye on as the market draws towards a close’.
Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta could also be on the move in January and Football Insider claim that his exit could ‘trigger last-minute Palace move’ for Strand Larsen.
The report adds: ‘The Wolves striker is firmly on the radar of the Eagles, who are keen to add a new striker regardless of Mateta’s fate, and their need for a fresh option at the top of the pitch will only increase if he is sold.’
Nottingham Forest have already made a £35m offer for Mateta and there are rumours of interest from other Premier League clubs too.
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Yorkshire Evening Post‘s chief football writer Graham Smyth has brought his latest update on Leeds’ interest in Strand Larsen.
Smyth said on the Inside Elland Road podcast: “Leeds have bid and I think sometimes people think it’s just a case of faxing ‘£30m’ and the faxing back ‘no’, Then faxing ‘£30m and one penny’ and then faxing back the word ‘no’. It’s very much a conversation and deals take time, they take long conversations and Leeds are still actively pursuing him.
“So I think what we can derive from that is that they are still in conversation with Wolves and they are still in active talks with Wolves. So even if their bid didn’t land and Wolves didn’t jump at it, which let’s be honest, they are not going to, then I know it’s not the end of Leeds interest in the player.
“They haven’t moved on and I think that’s what they’d be saying if they wanted to draw a line under this or if they’d put in their absolute best and Wolves had knocked it back.
“Even then it would not make sense for Leeds to leave the table because I’m not buying this Wolves line that they are content to keep the player until the summer.
“We all know the difficulty of player trading in a post-relegation apocalyptic landscape and whilst it hasn’t come out that the player has got a relegation clause, would it surprise you that a player playing at Wolves, who have struggled in the last couple of years, highly rated player wanted by Newcastle last summer, would it surprise you if he had something in there that would drastically reduce the money they would get in the summer if they went down? I wouldn’t be surprised.”
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