Leeds look likely to beat off competition from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Barnsley and Bristol City for the signature of Ashley Fletcher, but it looks like the best we can hope for is to sign the young striker on a loan deal.

The ever-reliable Sun have reported that a number of Championship clubs are chasing the 20-year-old, but claims that Massimo Cellino has agreed to meet the £7,000-per-week terms that Fletcher and his agent are asking for.

But although Fletcher has yet to appear in a competitive game for Manchester United, the Old Trafford mob have offered him a new contract, and they believe he still has a future at the club. It would be tough for him to break through to their first team in the next few seasons, with Jose Mourinho likely to get the funds for significant team strengthening, but Fletcher hasn't given up his hopes of emulating Marcus Rashford.

He told the Manchester Evening news last week “Hopefully people might think of us together as young players at United, but what Marcus has done is unbelievable. Scoring for United’s first team, scoring for England…He deserves every bit of the attention he is getting — but maybe I can run him for his place next season at United if I am back there."

So it's clear that a permanent transfer away from Old Trafford isn't on the cards, but Fletcher knows that his best chance of first team football is to spend at least one more season elsewhere on loan. Last season he scored 9 goals in 27 appearances for Barnsley, including the opener in their play-off final victory over Millwall.

Fletcher is a local lad from Keighley, and although I've seen a few comments on social media about signing a Man U player, we surely have to try to put together the best squad we can, no matter where the players come from. Remember Johnny Giles and Gordon Strachan!

With the pursuit of Fletcher following the likely signing of Antonsson, Garry Monk clearly sees the need to boost his striking options and improve on the abysmal home record we had last season. In the meantime, someone will have to make way, and it's likely that Lee Erwin will be heading back to his former club Motherwell after his very disapointing spell at Elland Road.

Photo: Action Images

Brisbanewhite added 05:09 - Jun 20 He's from Keighley!
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TimWhelan added 13:23 - Jun 20 I must admit that when I was writing the article I thought "must remember to check the spelling of Keighley before I post the article. " And then when I had finished writing I forgot to do so. But thank you for getting up so early in the morning to point this out.
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