Leeds United now want to sign striker who almost joined Crystal Palace in January

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Leeds United’s U21s side will be in need of strengthening in the summer.

Under the previous ownership regime, Leeds had placed a large emphasis on academy recruitment in each transfer window but relegation from the Premier League has put a hold on that for now.

However, 49ers have slowly but surely been putting the building blocks in place behind-the-scenes with the latest appointment having come in the form of an academy manager, with Martin Diggle joining from Liverpool.

With that in mind, links to academy signings have started to arrive over the last few days with Kilmarnock’s Bobby Wales having been mentioned as a potential target.

And now according to the Daily Record, Leeds have actually been looking at another young Kilmarnock attacker – Zander Craik.

Leeds eyeing Kilmarnock striker Craik

Craik is said to be highly thought of at Kilmarnock but is out of contract in the summer and so if a deal is to take place, the Scottish Premiership side would be due some compensation.

However, Craik has already been involved with training in and around the first team and have offered him a new deal in order to stave off interest from Leeds, and other clubs.

Premier League duo Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest have also sent scouts to watch him in action, while Crystal Palace tried and failed to get a deal done back in January.

On top of the interest in Craik’s teammate Wales, Scotland is a market Leeds have looked at on a number of occasions in recent years, with Stuart McKinstry and Lewis Pirie clear examples of that.

For now, of course, Leeds have only been taking a look at this stage, but hopefully it is a sign of things to come that they want to get back to strengthening the academy.