Blues target Leif Davis has been named in a 26-man Leeds squad for their pre-season tour of Australia with head coach Jesse Marsch having said it’s “too early to say” whether the 22-year-old will be staying with the Whites.
The Premier League side travel to Australia for the three-game trip, in which they will face Brisbane Roar, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace in friendlies, tomorrow before returning in just over a week’s time.
Earlier in the week TWTD reported that the Blues had made a £1 million offer for Davis plus a further £500,000 in top-ups. The left-back is out of contract at Elland Road at the end of the season.
Asked about Davis’s situation, manager Marsch told Leeds Live: "I really like Leif. I like his attitude, I like his work ethic. He continues to impress, so it’s a little bit too early to say, but I’d just say it’s been very positive with him.”
Junior Firpo, currently the Whites’ only senior left-back with Stuart Dallas out injured, says he believes Davis can push him for a place in the Leeds side.
"I don’t feel pressure, I don’t have pressure,” he said. "I just want to play every single game, we just want to win every single game, or try to.
"Of course, there is another left-back, it’s Leif. He’s playing, he will be in the team, I think and he will make me work hard.
"Last season I didn’t have any left-backs, now this season I have Leif to compete with for the position. It’s okay, always the competition is always good.”
Newcastle-born Davis was with Morecambe’s youth set-up as a schoolboy before joining the Elland Road club’s academy in July 2018.
Davis, who is 6ft tall and can also operate as a wing-back and at centre-half, spent last season on loan at AFC Bournemouth in the Championship, making 10 starts and five sub appearances, a move which was initially viewed as a precursor to a £1.5 million permanent switch.
However, injury limited his involvement and he returned to Elland Road before the end of the campaign.
For his parent club he has made six first-team starts and has made eight appearances from the bench.
Town have already signed one left-back this summer, former Morecambe man Greg Leigh, however it had been expected that they would look to bring in a second before the start of the season.