Leeds United did not sign a single player in the January transfer window.
However, as Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear both said publicly before the window opened, that was always likely to be the case.
Leeds are building a long-term project under Marcelo Bielsa and will focus on summer signings to bolster the squad.
The Argentine manager is notorious for his disdain towards the January window, a period which he deems inopportune to fully bed in new players. To avoid mistakes of previous seasons, the club relented on calls to add to the squad in January, owing to the team's favourable position in the table.
With that in mind, here are the latest Leeds transfer rumours.
Summer shopping set to plug gaps
The Athletic believe that Leeds will sign four or five players this summer as they continue to add to the squad.
The Whites were extremely quiet in the January window, but Phil Hay reports that Orta was working hard on preparing plans for the summer window.
"Transfers, I think four or five would be a fair estimate,
"Assuming he stays, there will be players who Bielsa wants to upgrade on. Left-back almost certainly and midfielders.
"Potentially another winger if it’s not going to work out with Costa.
"Orta spent a lot of January looking at deals for next summer so they’re planning ahead now (clubs are always planning ahead tbh, or the organised ones anyway).
"Obviously, there’s the question of Bielsa’s contract too but I’d be surprised if he didn’t feel like he wanted to keep this going into season four."
Leeds-linked Buendia the Championship's best player
Chris Sutton has named Norwich City's Emi Buendia as the best player as the Championship.
Buendia has been linked with a move to Leeds previously. There has also been extended interest from Arsenal.
The midfielder was relegated with Norwich from the Premier League last season and has excelled in the Championship this term. And Sutton believes that the creator is the best player in the English second tier.
"Buendia, who is the best player in the Championship, I think, talk of him going to Arsenal in January, misses an open goal," he said during commentary of Norwich's 4-1 win over Stoke City on BT Sport.
Buendia may have missed an easy chance, but he went on to provide a goal and an assist.
Leeds urged to sign Douglas Costa
Paul Robinson believes that Douglas Costa is a top-class player and would be a tremendous signing for Leeds, should he fit into Bielsa's system.
Costa has made just three league starts for Bayern Munich this season while on loan from Juventus.
There remains a possibility that he could be allowed to leave in the summer, although the likelihood of that being to Leeds United is very faint.
Robinson says that links with Leeds show just how far the Yorkshire side have come. "As soon as you hear his name… I mean what an incredible link," he told MOT Leeds News.
"For Leeds, you think where they were last season in the Championship. Now, they’re mid-table in the Premier League and being linked to Douglas Costa.
"He’s a top-class European player and has been for a long time. He’s not that old either. He’s not played that much at Bayern Munich this season, whether Juve would let him out on loan or sell him permanently.
"It just shows how far Leeds have come that they’re being linked with players like this. It’s an incredible link but then you can link any players you want, if players don’t fit into the Bielsa system, regardless of the size of the name, they won’t be coming in."
