Leeds United and Matheus Cunha - transfer state of play as Victor Orta works on striker pursuit

Cunha is a name that has remained near the top of the director of football's wishlist for years and Leeds thought they would have been in with a chance of landing him in the summer of 2021, had Marcelo Bielsa willed it, before Atlético Madrid signed the Brazilian.

Although things evidently haven't worked out quite as the forward and Atlético would have liked - he has no goals this season and scored six in 29 LaLiga games in the last campaign - Orta is no less of a fan of the 23-year-old.

What's more, Cunha was at RB Leipzig in the 2018/29 season, when Jesse Marsch was assistant to head coach Ralf Rangnick, so the style of football and methods currently employed at Elland Road would not be alien to the player.

The problem for the Whites is that Wolves appear well down the road with Atlético. It's not long since Manchester United appeared keen on him, although he may have been one of many caught in the crossfire of their scattergun recruitment approach, and according to The Athletic, Everton and Arsenal are looking him over. The latter would make a lot of sense. It would also cast Eddie Nketiah’s summer decision to say no to Leeds, or any departure, and yes to a new deal at the Emirates in a more questionable light.

Competing with Wolves - notwithstanding the Jorge Mendes angle - and Everton is one thing, for Leeds, but 'big six' interest in a striker, particularly when that club is sitting top of the Premier League and has a star striker sitting on the sidelines for three months, is never good news. Leeds have sold themselves well since promotion but they don't boast European football and they're competing for midtable comfort, not trophies.

And this very scenario raises a question over the pond Leeds United go fishing in. Cunha may still be in his early 20s but he has a profile, eight Brazil caps, an Olympic gold medal and European experience. Going after him with any kind of single-minded determination only to miss out would only be looked upon as a mistake, especially because a forward is such a key addition in January.

Where Orta has succeeded in the transfer market is with players the bigger boys seemingly hadn't yet spotted. Like Raphinha, who had no business being at anything other than a Champions League outfit and somehow spent two seasons lighting up Elland Road.

Illan Meslier was picked up even earlier, aged just 19, but was likely first-team-ready when he first arrived in August 2019 and has since gone on to prove more than good enough for the Premier League.

You could already throw Tyler Adams into this pool - his start to life in England's top flight was only bettered by his every-blade coverage of World Cup pitches and the leadership qualities he displayed on and off them. If he wasn't on the big boys' radars prior to this season, he should have been, and he most certainly will be now.

So while Cunha can still be described as a target, an affordable one even if the payment terms are right, and a player Orta would take, in a heartbeat, given half a chance, Leeds will monitor that situation, stay in touch with his camp but continue to focus on others, players the YEP has been told come from the kind of pool that produced Raphinha, Meslier and Adams.

In an ideal world, a striker and a left-back will arrive to bolster Marsch's squad in the new year. In Orta's ideal world, Cunha might well be that striker. But neither he nor his club live in an ideal world and it must be remembered that the mandate is not to sign that striker, it's to sign a striker, the right striker, at the right price.