Should Leeds have just moved for Jordan Hugill earlier?

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Leeds United have are claimed to have made a move for Preston North End striker Jordan Hugill, but another report suggests that he is Crystal Palace-bound.

The recent decision to reconsider the change to the club crest appears to not be the only occasion during the final stages of the January transfer window where the Leeds board have decided to try and appease the fans by reversing a decision.

Just last week, Whites managing director Angus Kinnear was asked on BBC Radio Leeds why Leeds were not looking at meeting the demands that it would take to land one of the top Championship strikers, with Jordan Hugill being used as an example of a player that the fans may like to see targeted.

And while Kinnear did not refer to Hugill directly in his response, he did suggest that Leeds had the resources to target a striker who may cost £8-£9 million and demand wages of £20,000 a week, but did not necessarily feel that the players currently available for those figures represented value for money.

Kinnear’s comments certainly support the suggestion that the Yorkshire Evening Post had made the previous week. The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that Leeds were fans of Hugill but were not convinced that he would be worth £8 million – the price they suggested would be the minimum that Preston North End would be looking for for their eight-goal talisman.

Somewhat surprisingly therefore, the Daily Mirror is now reporting on page 47 of its printed edition (30th January 2018) that Leeds have now actually made an £8 million bid for the 25-year-old.

However, The Sun have also reported that Crystal Palace are on the verge of signing Hugill for the same price and he may even be in attendance for the Eagles’ Premier League clash with West Ham on Tuesday.

So now that the offer has reportedly been made, it surely begs the question: why did Leeds not move sooner for a player that they now feel is worth the money?

Whenever a piece of news has been announced by the Whites this month, a large portion of the response – apart from when the redesigned badge was unveiled – has seen the fans plead with the club to make signing a new striker the next item of business.

Leeds scored three times against Millwall, but before that, their form in front of goal had been a real worry and no one is really threatening to come close to Chris Wood’s tally from last season, so it is little surprise that many fans seem to have placed a new forward at the top of their wishlist.

Had they moved earlier in the month, they may have perhaps found Preston more willing to do business with them over a deal as they would have had more than enough time to reinvest the money.

Now however, the Lilywhites would be forgiven for simply deciding to only answer Palace’s calls if they are open to selling Hugill. Leeds and Preston are both on the periphery of the play-off picture right now, so, of course, Alex Neil may prefer to sell the striker to Palace if he feels that a deal is inevitable at this late stage.

Perhaps there is a chance that Leeds may still be able to snatch Hugill from under Palace’s noses, but would it be a surprise if Preston’s asking price had risen significantly at this stage of the window when a potential rival for a play-off spot comes calling?