Leeds United now have three options after Shea Charles transfer latest
Leeds United refuse to budge in their pursuit of Southampton midfielder Shea Charles.
Despite having a first bid rejected of £20million, the Whites and Daniel Farke are hellbent on the Northern Ireland international.
Midfield doesn't spring to mind as a priority area at Elland Road, but the 49ers Enterprises are still making moves.
Charles enjoyed a fruitful last season at St Mary's, scoring against Arsenal in the FA Cup and in the play-off semi finals against Middlesbrough.
It was enough to see Leeds return with a second bid.
Despite the improved terms, it still may not be enough for Charles to be given permission to head across to West Yorkshire.
Details of Leeds United's second bid for Shea Charles
It was shared on Thursday that Leeds had upped their offer to £23m-plus for Charles.
That has now been disputed.
Alex Crook of talkSPORT has reported that Leeds' bid is actually lower than that, and more importantly, below Southampton's valuation.
It is added that the Saints are set to reject the second bid, as the transfer saga looks set to drag into another week.
That leaves Leeds with three options.
What do Leeds need to pay to sign Shea Charles?
The first would be to stop trying to haggle, but that is never going to happen in the modern day of transfers.
Southampton want £30m, but given they are set for a second season of Championship football with a points deduction, Charles could try to force his way out.
The second option would be to look elsewhere, the domestic market is usually inflated, and this is being used to the extreme here.
The third is the most drastic, and that is to simply walk away from trying to sign a midfielder at all.
Leeds have Ethan Ampadu, Ao Tanaka, Sean Longstaff, Anton Stach and Ilia Gruev available to them, with other pressing issues in the squad.
With Harry Wilson being set to sign, Farke could only use a midfield two in his defensive system.
Add that to the sale of Pascal Struijk to Brighton, and Leeds desperately need reinforcements at the back.
Despite all of that, Leeds clearly really want to sign Charles and if that's the case, they may have to let their money do the talking.