Could Josh Vela play his way into Leeds’ summer plans this Friday?

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Leeds United had their eye on Bolton Wanderers midfielder Josh Vela during the January transfer window, according to reports.

With Leeds’ season looking set to end in the underwhelming manner that the supporters had become accustomed to during the club’s first few years back in the Championship, Paul Heckingbottom will be hoping to get as much out of their remaining games as possible.

The play-offs may be out of the question, but there will still be pressure on a number of the players within the squad to perform as the head coach prepares for his first summer at Elland Road – while he may also be using their remaining games to look for potential targets for the upcoming window.

On paper, their next game – a home clash with strugglers Bolton – is probably one that the Leeds fans would rather not see a number of potential targets emerge from, but it may give Heckingbottom a chance to get a look at a player that director of football Victor Orta wanted back in December.

The Daily Mail reported ahead of the January transfer window that Leeds were amongst the host of sides having a look at Bolton midfielder Josh Vela.

Vela has been impressive for the Trotters this term, providing four assists and scoring one goal from midfield, so it was little surprise that a number of clubs were considering a potential move.

Since those links emerged, Leeds have really struggled to put together a central midfield partnership capable of dominating games in the way that Kalvin Phillips and Eunan O’Kane seemed to in the early weeks of the season.

Both Phillips and O’Kane have gone off the boil, while Ronaldo Vieira has struggled to prove his fitness throughout the campaign. That has left Adam Forshaw as the one shining light in the middle of the park, and that may also leave Heckingbottom considering adding to his options in that position in the summer.

Orta appears to be a fan of the 24-year-old, and if he performs against Leeds on Friday night, perhaps it may not be out of the question for Heckingbottom to come to a similar conclusion, thus leaving the Whites with another potential target for the summer.