Leeds United are “in talks” with Swansea over a deal so sign Joel Piroe but have not yet made a “formal bid”, according to Lyall Thomas.

The Sky Sports journalist reported via Twitter on Wednesday morning (23 August) that the Whites want to pay an “initial” £8million for the 24-year-old striker as the negotiations centre around the fee, while Championship rivals Southampton and Leicester City are both “keen”.

The Dutchman has entered the final year of his contract with the Swans and is now “increasingly likely” to leave before the deadline according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay earlier on Wednesday, despite recent signals indicating he was set to stay.

The Whites are apparently prepared to pay as much as £15m for the scorer of 46 Swansea goals since his arrival from PSV two years ago, but will have to come up with a “huge” offer to the player himself according to The Sun’s Alan Nixon.

There had been rumours in the past week that a new contract was set to be signed in South Wales, but that looks to have been ruled out.

Now or never

With 19 league goals in the Championship last season and 22 the campaign before it isn’t hard to see why the three relegated sides would all have an interest in Piroe as they look to mount an attack on promotion.

While Leicester have sold the likes of James Maddison and Harvey Barnes for big money to Tottenham and Newcastle respectively, and Southampton have brought in a major fee to let Romeo Lavia to Chelsea after James Ward-Prowse’s lucrative move to West Ham, the Whites have brought in comparatively little.

Before Tyler Adams’ recent departure to Bournemouth for a few million over his £20m release clause they had only brought in minimal amounts for Rodrigo and Tyler Roberts, along with some small loan fees.

But one way or another Daniel Farke needs his squad strengthened before the deadline, and with expectations of a new central midfielder imminently it looks like striker might finally be addressed.

Leeds United appear to have taken the initiative in the pursuit of Piroe but are likely to have to put significant cash into the equation, both at club level and with the forward, and clearly there is a lot of money to spend at rival clubs.

The 49ers had claimed they were ready to be aggressive in the market, and this would be the ideal way to prove that, assuming the recent Adams deal has allowed profit and sustainability concerns to fade.

In other Leeds United news, another first-team Whites player is now “waiting” to leave the club after Willy Gnonto and Luis Sinsterra’s attempts to secure a move.