Leeds United deal for loanee 'still alive' as £10m former target drawing La Liga interest

The January transfer window is beginning to gather pace now and Leeds United are still expected to do some business over the next fortnight. The Whites haven't dipped into the market just yet but they need defensive reinforcements after the departures of Djed Spence and Luke Ayling.

With that in mind, here's a look at some of the transfer stories coming out of Elland Road this evening:

Llorente deal 'still alive'

Paris Saint-Germain are still pushing to sign Leeds United loanee Diego Llorente this month in order to strengthen their backline. That's according to French reporter Santi Aouna, who claims the Ligue 1 giants have held discussions this week about Llorente and the possibility of seeing his loan at Roma cut short.

Llorente is halfway through his second loan at Roma, where his performances in Serie A have caught the eye and seen him land on the radar of PSG. Reports earlier in the window seemed to suggest that Jose Mourinho was willing to part ways with the centre-back if the player wanted to leave, but given the Portuguese has now been sacked, Roma's stance may have changed.

Leeds will more than likely be keen to do business this month, with a permanent deal seeing them recoup at least some of the £18m they paid for Llorente back in 2020, while there is a chance it could even free up funds to make additions late in the window.

Ex-Leeds target in demand

Leeds United saw a £10m bid rejected for Celtic midfielder Matt O'Riley in the summer as they looked to add to their ranks in the middle of the park. However, it seems as though O'Riley could be on the move this month with a host of clubs, including La Liga high flyers Girona, report Sky Sports.

Celtic would loath to lose the Denmark international, given his importance to the side, but it seems their resolve could be tested. The report also claims that O'Riley is attracting interest from the Premier League while Inter Milan have also taken a look at him in recent weeks.

"I'm not aware of any [interest], but it's natural," Brendan Rodgers said when asked about O'Riley recently. "If you've got good players then of course they will attract attention. But I'm not focused on that at all. We don't want to be losing any [of our best players]. The plan was to add to the squad and that's still the plan."