Birmingham boss insists he was 'very close' to deadline day Leeds United signing as £4.3m deal could collapse

Leeds United continued their push for Championship promotion on Saturday with a commanding 3-0 win at home to Rotherham. Crysencio Summerville was twice on the scoresheet with a couple of cool finishes, following Patrick Bamford's controversial opener.

Victory was Leeds' sixth in a row when it comes to the league and Daniel Farke's men have pulled themselves right into the top-two mix, although they have a long week ahead with away trips to Swansea City and Plymouth Argyle. In the meantime, the YEP has rounded up some of the latest headlines coming out of West Yorkshire.

Birmingham 'close' to Poveda

Birmingham City manager Tony Mowbray has revealed his side were 'very close' to signing Ian Poveda on deadline day. The Colombian got his first start for new club Sheffield Wednesday against Birmingham on Friday, setting up Ike Ugbo with a great moment of skill.

Poveda was a surprise late exit from Elland Road but made clear his desire to move on, with first-team football at Leeds limited. The 24-year-old initially joined Wednesday on loan but his contract in West Yorkshire expires in the summer.

“Poveda is a good player, I would have to say,” Mowbray said. “We were very close to signing Poveda in this window just gone. He's a player I had at Blackburn Rovers and is a very talented young boy.”

Llorente deal in doubt

Leeds may miss out on the chance to cash in on Diego Llorente with reports suggesting Roma are unsure whether they want to activate a £4.3m option to make the defender's loan permanent. Llorente is into his second season in Serie A, having initially joined on loan in January 2023.

GiveMeSport reports that Roma are assessing their options ahead of summer and while Llorente has featured regularly, they could opt against spending the money to sign him permanently. It could leave Leeds having to find another new home for Llorente, who is contracted with the club until 2026. Leeds signed Llorente for around £18m in the summer of 2020, following promotion for the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa. They tied him down to a three-and-a-half-year deal in December 2022 with the aim being to protect that value.