Udinese midfielder and Leeds United transfer target Rodrigo de Paul drops then deletes social media hint

Udinese midfielder Rodrigo de Paul has dropped a major hint on social media that he's keen to become a Leeds United player before the transfer window closes next month.

The Whites have been negotiating a potential deal to bring the playmaker to Elland Road for a number of weeks, but are yet to strike an agreement with the Serie A outfit.

Eagle-eyed supporters have kept a close eye on the Argentine's Twitter account after the 26-year-old liked a number of tweets linking him with a transfer to LS11 in recent days.

De Paul, though, has now gone one step further by replying to Leeds fanzine The Square Ball simply with the word 'yes' and a fingers crossed emoji in response to whether he wanted to join Marcelo Bielsa's squad.

The tweet was swiftly deleted but it is the clearest indication yet that De Paul would like to make the Premier League his home this season before the October 5 transfer deadline.

Fabrizio Romano, Sky's well connected Italian football journalist, suggests Udinese are holding out for £40m with United yet to meet their valuation.

Leeds have already broken their club transfer record in the summer window following the arrival of Spain centre forward Rodrigo from Valencia for an initial fee of £27m plus add ons.

United also added German international Robin Koch to their ranks from Freiburg for £11m after early attempts to lure former Brighton defender Ben White back to the club were dismissed by the Seagulls.

The Whites remain in the market for an attacking midfielder and a centre-half and are close to sealing the transfer of Feyenoord winger Crysencio Summerville for the Under-23s squad.

New signing Rodrigo looks like to feature in the midweek League Cup clash with Hull City at Elland Road after stepping off the bench late at Liverpool in Premier League action on Saturday.

United's Under-23s side fell to a 4-0 defeat on Monday evening at Stoke City as Joe Gelhardt, Cody Drameh and Sam Greenwood made their debuts for the club.