Leeds fans are desperate for news. Just over two weeks since the official site confirmed talks were on going for “investment for the long-term future”, fans have become jittery over the prospects of an investment that most feel will be vital for our chances of success this season. Two and a half weeks remain until the annual ‘Bosman blitz’ and fans only know that two weeks ago talks were on-going, and guess by the lack of noise from the Chairman that talks might be still on-going.

In fact, Leeds could miss the boat this summer. Portsmouth’s demotion ensured any half-decent offer would prize players away from them, and Leeds got probably the hottest property in player of the season Jason Pearce. But the next wave of exoduses could pass us by. Rangers have been unable to negotiate with HMRC, and will be forced into ‘liquidation’ meaning the club will start anew – probably in the lower leagues. This will see the likes of Sone Aluko, David Healy and Sasa Papac, already on frees, joined by the whole of the Rangers squad in being out of contract. Names including: Steven Whittaker, Carlos Bocanegra, Steven Davis, Alejandro Bedoya, John Fleck, Steven Naismith and Kyle Lafferty. These are big names, but a Leeds United facing investment and with by far the largest turnover in the Championship could hope to talk to one or two. The next wave will likely be at Birmingham City whose accounts have been questioned by auditors, and who might have to rely on player sales to continue to exist, while Leicester City are already offloading many of their players at cut-price as manager Nigel Pearson seeks to rebuild the squad in his image.

So prolonged talks could see Leeds missing the boat, making investment into the playing squad far less bountiful. This is why fans will definitely welcome the news from YEP that Leicester’s highly rated right-back Lee Peltier is set to sign for Leeds within two weeks (by the end of the month). Fairly certain news also broke from London news sources yesterday that Rob Green was close to signing for QPR, and that Paddy Kenny had as good as signed with Leeds. This latter rumour is not concrete, but it certainly seems that Peltier is likely to head back to Yorkshire this month. This news comes on the back of various rumours. Picking the common themes from the more likely ones: the jungle drums have it that Leeds have all but agreed a deal with potential investors/buyers (nix as appropriate), who are now in the ‘due diligence’ phase (making sure what they’re paying for) and have supposedly told Neil Warnock what level of spending he can make should the ‘due diligence’ be completed favourably. It’s important to remember these are all unconfirmed rumours at this time, but the Peltier news story from YEP lends weight to them.

Fantastic Boost

Meanwhile, Leeds youngsters Simon Lenighen, Dominic Poleon, Charlie Clamp, Sam Byram, Ross Killock and Monty Gimpel have all now signed professional deals at Leeds United. Leeds’ Under-18s did particularly well last season and the youngsters may well offer versatility to the Leeds squad and will be a welcome addition to the training ground.

LUST : One Voice, Your Voice

Following the Leeds United Supporters Trust’s decision to agree to relay a message from unnamed Leeds players to the fans last week, there has been some criticism as well as praise. People are perfectly capable of making their own minds up on LUST but personally I would say that these are people voluntarily giving up their time to represent their fellow fans and don’t deserve the bile received by some individuals judging them by their own low standards and pedalling literal non-sense.

LUST act according to feedback from members, and are acknowledged by the FA and UEFA as legitimate representatives of more the 6,000 Leeds fans. The Trust have spoken to the potential buyer as well as other interested parties – something their detractors have not, so I would encourage people to consider that LUST might know better than they whether their actions will put off the bidders they have been excited to see show interest. Funnily enough, rationally pointing this out saw me blocked on Twitter by one of LUST’s main detractors, who preferred a good old-fashioned abusive argument with easier targets.