By Pranav Shahaney

17th Sep, 2022 | 5:54pm

West Ham may be forced into January sale of Leeds United and Newcastle target Harrison Ashby

West Ham will reportedly attempt to reach an agreement with Harrison Ashby amid interest from Leeds United, Celtic and Newcastle.

According to Six Foot Two, the 20-year-old agents will have talks with the Hammers and failure to reach a conclusion could see them being forced into selling him in January.

That’s because his contract expires at the end of the season and the winter will be the only opportunity they can get something from his sale with Leeds, Newcastle, Preston North End and Celtic linked.

Worth a punt

Signing a young defender with the potential of being a good Premier League player is something that the Whites must consider doing.

They do have plenty of centre-backs thus far but they have had injury issues and have suffered bouts of poor form which is worrying.

Ashby can be signed to add to the depth initially and then capitalise whenever there’s an opportunity to break into the first team.

If Leeds are signing him, they surely envisage him being a bit-part player initially as he’s unlikely to join a side that makes him play for the Under-23s.

Beating Celtic and Newcastle to his services will be tough, however, as one side can offer him Champions League football, provided they make it past the group stages, while the other would give him a major pay rise.

That being said, if Marsch personally reaches out to him and explains how he plans to utilise him, there’s a good chance he fancies a move to Elland Road.

In other Leeds United news, the Whites have reached an agreement to sign a left-back, according to his agent.