By David Woods

23rd Jan, 2020 | 11:45am

MOT View: Orta on brink of major Leeds transfer coup after Graham Smyth update

Leeds United are on the verge of making their second signing of the season and this is one that fans can really get excited about.

18-year-old Elia Caprile got the ball rolling but a keeper destined for the Under-23s isn’t going to get the pulses racing.

However, Ian Poveda, a Man City winger who Serie A Torino wanted to sign? That’s a lot more like it for Leeds fans.

However, the real masterstroke from Victor Orta is that Leeds look like they’re going to land him on a permanent deal for FREE after Torino reportedly had an offer rejected for the winger earlier in the window.

That was the update delivered by YEP journalist Graham Smyth after it was reported that he was undergoing a medical at Leeds on Thursday.

Predominantly a winger, Poveda has been used as a striker by Man City, including the UEFA Youth League game against Shakhtar (see below) and Leeds stats site All Stats Aren’t We think he’s set to be an upgrade on Jack Clarke and a “weapon” off the bench.

If that transpires then Orta has shifted Clarke for £9m and upgraded him for nothing. That’s sensational business.

Poveda is out of contract in the summer and he was seemingly unsettled at Man City after getting demoted from training with the first-team squad.

However, that would still mean Man City could demand a fee for him, no matter how small, and it had been reported that Torino were set to make a second offer for Poveda.

Orta looks like he’s bagged Poveda for nothing and for a player who could turn out to be a real star, this is one we might look back on in the future as one of the deals of the decade.

Let’s not forget that Man City let Jadon Sancho go for a pittance and he is now said to be worth over £100m.

Ignore any Leeds fans moaning about Radrizzani not spending any money – we think this is a major transfer coup.

Poveda might only be 19 but he’s been training with the Man City first-team squad until late last year, played 90 minutes in the EFL Cup, and turned heads in the UEFA Youth League with a stunning goal against Shakhtar this season.

The video below shows what Leeds fans can look forward to and the thought of Poveda marauding through the Championship is a hugely exciting prospect.

Poveda is set to be confirmed later on Thursday so it’s possible that he could go straight into the squad for the Millwall game.

We doubt that will happen. Bielsa likes to give his new players time to get up to speed with his system.

However, with Poveda coming from Man City and having trained with Pep Guardiola, that settling in period could be far shorter.

We hope so. Leeds desperately need new attacking options as they look to kickstart their promotion push again after a run of bad results.

In other Leeds United news, ‘Absolute machine’, ‘Shocked’ – These Leeds fans react as striker linked with Elland Rd move