Manager admits reported Leeds target Scott Banks is leaving Dundee United

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Championship title favourites Leeds United are battling Premier League duo Southampton and Crystal Palace for Dundee United’s Scott Banks.

Dundee United manager Robbie Neilson has admitted that he is disappointed with Scott Banks’ decision to reject a new contract at Tannadice, as reported by the Courirer, with the Leeds United and Crystal Palace target set to leave on the cheap in 2020.

Banks has burst onto the scene for the Tangerines in recent months with plenty of clubs below the border keeping a close eye on his progress from unknown youngster to first-team regular.

The Daily Record claimed that Crystal Palace were planning a bid of around £400,000 to bring Banks to Selhurst Park with Leeds and Southampton also interested in a player who won Dundee United’s Academy Player of the Year award last season.

The Championship side were obviously keen to tie their prized asset down to a long-term deal but, according to the Record, Banks has rejected the chance to sign fresh terms with the club and is now set to leave next year.

What’s more, Dundee United will be able to obtain a measly £200,000 in compensation.

No wonder Neilson has been left frustrated with how things are panning out.

“We have offered him a really good contract but they (Banks and his agent) have decided it’s not for him. So the indication we have had is that they will run the contract down, which is disappointing,” Neilson told the Courier, who believe Banks would have become Dundee United’s second-best paid player.

“We offered him the opportunity – we didn’t sign someone else because we planned for him to play – but they have decided it is not for them.

“It will be up to him and his agent where he goes. It’s just disappointing because he has been here from a young age and the club has spent a lot of time and effort in developing him.

“All I can say is that he had the opportunity here to play first-team football and we will see if he gets that somewhere else.”

Given that Marcelo Bielsa has promoted the likes of Leif Davis, Jack Clarke and Jamie Shackleton to his senior squad since taking over at Leeds in 2018, a move to Elland Road perhaps represents Banks’ best hope of immediate first-team football.