26-year-old Leeds United were pushing to sign has now decided he will not leave this month

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Leeds United have been dealt another blow in the pursuit of one of their targets this month.

The Whites are still yet to make a single signing since the January window opened and time is now very much against them if they want to bring in any reinforcements.

Daniel Farke’s side lost out on the signing of Bournemouth’s David Brooks on Monday evening and their reported alternative now also does not look like he will be moving to Elland Road.

Leeds have been pushing to sign Burnley’s Manuel Benson and after Southampton moved quickly to sign Brooks yesterday, the door had looked opened for a deal to progress quickly for the 26-year-old.

However, journalist Sacha Tavolieri – who has been keeping on top of the situation – has now claimed a deal is off and Benson will be staying at Turf Moor for the rest of the season.

Benson holds talks with Kompany

Benson is said to have held talks with manager Vincent Kompany over his future after playing just 73 minutes of Premier League football season, despite having been key to their Championship title last season.

Instead, Kompany has convinced him to stay at the club and Benson is now fully focused on helping Burnley stay in the Premier League.

This will come as a big blow to Leeds as they will now be signing neither of their main left-footed right-winger targets, meaning automatic promotion rivals Southampton are coming out of the window stronger.

This latest update also comes as somewhat of a surprise given Kompany publicly left the door open for some of his fringe players to move on earlier today.

At this stage, it feels unlikely that will Leeds will be able to strengthen their attacking options given that defence is most certainly a bigger priority before the deadline.