Will Leeds regret missing out to Forest for Tobias Figueiredo?

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Tobias Figueiredo is heading to the Championship from Sporting Lisbon but to Nottingham Forest rather than Leeds United.

It has not been the best couple of weeks for Leeds United fans. First there was that crushing home defeat by Millwall, then that new badge and all the while a continued lack of progress on the transfer front.

Leeds have only signed Laurens De Bock and Yosuke Ideguchi this month, and the latter will spend the next few months on loan at sister club Cultural Leonesa as he attempts to earn a work permit.

And while the Whites’ need for striking reinforcements has been well documented, fans have been arguing that a new centre-back would be welcome with open arms too.

But it appears that Leeds have let a player slip through their fingers despite the fact that he was available, cheap and willing to move to Elland Road.

According to Desporto ao Minuto, Leeds made an enquiry about Sporting Lisbon centre-back Tobias Figueiredo in the first week of December and were told that he could be signed for a cut-price fee.

Then Record reported a few days later that he would be keen to move to England. But, instead of Elland Road, the Portuguese under-21 international will be playing his football at the City Ground.

Because Nottingham Forest have now signed Figueiredo on loan with Record claiming they have a compulsory purchase option of £2 million set at the end of the current campaign.

Figueiredo – a strong, athletic defender who is renowned for his aerial attributes – will be tasked with shoring up a defence which has conceded more goals than all but five Championship clubs.

But with Liam Cooper’s suspensions and Matthew Pennington’s injuries making Leeds’ defence look a little bare, you wonder why they did not firm up their initial interest in a player who could immediately have improved their starting XI.

Leeds’ loss could be Forest’s gain.