Leeds should still look to land Brentford star Ivan Toney this summer amid Jon Newsome's transfer claim.
What's the story?
Reports in recent days and weeks have suggested that Marcelo Bielsa's side are keen on bringing Toney up to the Premier League, but Newsome has raised his doubts over a potential move.
Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, the former Leeds ace was asked whether he would go for a big-money deal for Toney if he had the choice.
He said: "In a word, no. No, I don't think I would. I mean, if you're looking at the players that they brought into the football club in the summer, all four of them are international football players and not one of them has got anywhere near the £35m price tag.
"So I'm not diminishing Toney's ability and the impact that he's had at Brentford this season, because I think he's doing incredibly well, he's doing really well."
Far better than Bamford
Speaking last year, Peterborough's director of football Barry Fry raved about Toney's ability, saying: "He's turned into a tremendous all-round footballer. It’s important to remember Ivan is not just an exceptional goal-scoring forward, he’s also an outstanding defender."
The 25-year-old is clinical in front of goal, having found the back of the net an incredible 29 times in just 40 league games and only missing six official big chances all season. Compare that to Leeds' number nine Patrick Bamford, who has missed more than three times as many big chances (21) despite playing fewer games (32) - you only have to see his performance against Liverpool to see that being ruthless isn't his strong suit.
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Aside from being a lethal finisher, Toney also betters Bamford in many key attacking areas. He averages more key passes and crosses per game, makes more tackles and wins back possession more per match, and comes out on top in twice as many duels per game too.
Then, when you factor in the fact Bamford has never crossed the 20-goal mark in a league campaign while Toney has done so in the last two campaigns, it suggests that the latter is much more potent in front of goal.
As Fry says, the Brentford ace is the archetypal all-round centre-forward, and given that he has seamlessly made the step up from League One to the Championship, he should be confident in his own ability of doing the same at Premier League level. It's exactly why Leeds must swoop for the £16.2m-rated striker.