Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Chris Wood back to Elland Road in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Football Insider, who claim that Victor Orta is weighing up a loan move for the Newcastle United centre-forward this winter, with the Spaniard said to be in the market for a striker who can lead Jesse Marsch's line and provide an alternative to the likes of Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo up top.

However, the report goes on to state that, despite the 30-year-old having slipped down Eddie Howe's attacking pecking order this season, the Magpies - who rejected a number of loan offers for the New Zeland international in the summer transfer window - may be unwilling to part with the 30-year-old this winter unless they can bring in a suitable replacement.

"Really good signing"

While it is true that, following his £25m move to St. James' Park in January of this year, Wood has not exactly been in fantastic goalscoring form for Newcastle - bagging just four goals over his 33 appearances for the club - considering how prolific the 70-cap international was during his time at Burnley, it is easy to see why Orta would be interested in a move for the forward.

Indeed, over his 165 outings for the Clarets, the £10.6m-rated talent scored an astonishing 53 goals and provided his teammates with a further nine assists - with the 30-year-old bagging Premier League campaigns he played at Turf Moor.

The £80k-per-week target man's best top-flight campaign came over his 32 league outings back in 2019/20, when he scored 14 goals, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 2.0 shots - one of which hit the target - making 0.7 key passes and winning 4.9 duels per game - helping Burnley secure a 10th place finish.

Furthermore, the Kiwi is no stranger to Elland Road, having scored an impressive 44 goals and provided nine assists over 88 appearances for the Whites before making a £15m move to Burnley in the summer of 2017.

And, while Rodrigo has been in fine goalscoring form this season - having hit the back of the net on nine separate occasions - with the 31-year-old being more of a number 10 than a number nine, it is undeniable that Wood would be a much better fit in leading Marsch's line in the second half of the campaign.

As such, with Patrick Bamford still appearing to be struggling with injury, Wood would very much look to be a "really good signing" - in the words of Gary Neville - for Orta to get over the line in January, as the "absolute beast" proved at Burnley that, despite playing for a side usually frequenting the bottom half of the table, he can still bang goals in on a regular basis.