Mighty Leeds Weblog

Phil Hay Luciano Becchio looks set to depart for Turkey before the end of the transfer window after Leeds United left him out of their brilliant FA Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur. The club’s leading scorer did not attend Elland Road for the fourth-round tie and he is understood to be pressing Leeds to bow to repeated approaches from the Turkish Premier League. United have rejected three bids from an unnamed club in Turkey while also turning down an offer from a side in China but Becchio’s departure in the final days of January seems inevitable after his omission from the clash with Spurs. The 29-year-old forward submitted a transfer request last week after turning down a new three-and-a-half year contract and learning of foreign interest in him. Leeds offered to improve the wage of their highest earner but claimed Becchio was asking for a salary “beyond a level we could support”. His agent, Horacio Rossi, responded to that claim over the weekend by saying the improvement in Becch...

YEP 9/1/13 By Phil Hay In the season when Jermaine Beckford scored 34 goals for Leeds United – the zenith of his career at Elland Road and the best record of any Leeds striker for more than half-a-century – 19 of them came before the first weekend in January. Luciano Becchio was one goal short of an identical tally prior to Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Birmingham City but the close comparison with Beckford’s mid-term strike rate is an example of how the Argentinian’s finishing touch has flourished since August. A spate of penalties has helped his cause but Becchio’s haul of 19 goals is far beyond the reach of any other player at Elland Road. El-Hadji Diouf and Michael Tonge are immediately below him on five, and Tonge is no longer part of United’s squad. It is understandable, then, that assistant manager Mick Jones is concerned about the prospect of bids for Becchio arriving this month and worried, too, about the implications of the club receiving an offer they can’t refuse. Be...

Neil Warnock says he will not be signing any players before the transfer window closes this week. The transfer window closes on Friday and Warnock says it will probably be September before they sign anyone else, with someone coming in on loan. Speaking on Yorkshire Radio, Warnock said, "We won`t be buying anybody. I think the most we can expect is a loan signing if we can, going into September. "We will have to be very lucky to get through with the squad we currently have." Warnock has brought in ten players so far this summer and he is currently trying to negotiate a deal with El Hadji Diouf, who is currently at Elland Road on a non-contract basis. The Leeds boss has been fortunate with the emergence of youngster Sam Byram, who once again made an impact from the bench in the win at Peterborough on Saturday. Fellow youngster Dominic Poleon came on to mark his championship debut and Warnock says he is working with a great bunch of lads but a few injuries could leave...