Leeds United and Southampton eyeing January swoop for MLS star Victor Orta nearly signed at Elland Road

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Leeds United’s recruitment staff already have their eyes on the January transfer window.

Leeds are in a good position in the Championship after the opening 12 matches but have been bitten hard by injuries this season and will not want to leave themselves short in the second half of the campaign.

Though the window does not open for another two months, those behind-the-scenes will be constantly working on identifying potential targets.

Daniel Farke revealed Leeds started working on Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville’s replacements as early as January earlier this year, despite them both not leaving for another eight months.

Leeds will also be keen to avoid the same mistake of last season when Connor Roberts was the only January arrival, which did leave them somewhat short towards the business end.

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Leeds eyeing swoop for Lewis O’Brien

There are certainly a couple of positions which could need reinforcements in January, with number 10 and striker arguably the most prominent.

Brenden Aaronson has played well this season but Leeds don’t really have a natural backup for him and Farke was disappointed one didn’t come in during the summer.

In attack, Farke still seemingly doesn’t know his best striker from Mateo Joseph and Joel Piroe. Leeds could actually sell Piroe or Patrick Bamford, to make room for a new signing.

After losing both Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev to long-term knee injuries, Leeds rightly felt the need to bring in a free agent midfielder earlier this month, with Josuha Guilavogui joining until the end of the season.

However, according to TeamTalk, Leeds are actually keen on bringing in another midfielder in January, with Lewis O’Brien on their radar.

O’Brien is currently on loan at US outfit LAFC from Nottingham Forest, where he is looking to win the MLS play-offs.

LAFC have an option-to-buy O’Brien at the end of his loan spell, but Leeds are among a host of sides to have reportedly registered an interest.

Southampton, Sheffield United, Hull City, West Brom and Stoke City are also said to be keen, with O’Brien having no future at Forest.

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Victor Orta came close to signing O’Brien at Leeds

O’Brien is a name that isn’t far off from being filed away alongside the likes of Ryan Kent, in terms of how often he has been linked with Leeds.

Leeds were first interested in O’Brien back in 2021 under the dictatorship of Victor Orta when he was still at Huddersfield Town.

Orta revealed publicly how close Leeds came to signing O’Brien that summer, with it simply down to a ‘difference in valuations’.

He said: “A difference in valuations. I respect these things, they happen. You have one idea, the club owning the player has another idea. If it matches, perfect, if not they have to continue and you have to continue.”