Phil Hay shares four-word update on Leeds United and Daiki Hashioki transfer speculation

Phil Hay has shared a four-word update on speculation linking Daiki Hashioki with a January transfer to Leeds United amid a new twist in the race.

Reports emerged that the Whites had agreed a deal with the Japanese international over a January switch, with some even suggesting that he was on his way to Elland Road to complete the deal when he was left out of St Truiden's matchday squad [David Van den Broeck, 28 January].

However, it now appears as though that wasn't the case, with The Athletic journalist Hay instead suggesting that the 24-year-old is set to join Luton Town in the Premier League, rather than Daniel Farke's team at Elland Road.

Writing on X on Sunday (28 January) he said: "He's going to Luton."

Worrying miss

Leeds United need a new full-back during the January transfer window as they have currently left Farke incredibly short of defensive cover with their outgoing business this month.

The decisions to allow both Djed Spence and Luke Ayling to depart within a matter of days of one another seemed bold in the first place, but should the Whites not replace either right-back, it could be a very naive decision for the second half of the campaign.

Archie Gray has shown that he can step up in that role, while Jamie Shackleton and Sam Byram are more than able operators on the right of defence. But they all have their own shortcomings and cannot be relied upon all season.

Hopefully, having seemingly missed out on Hashioki, Farke and his recruitment team will have another target that they can quickly turn to. Otherwise, this could be a real blow to the automatic promotion hopes.

In other Leeds United news, a new round of talks have begun over the potential transfer of Manuel Benson

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