By Craig Scott

4th Oct, 2020 | 3:30pm

Phil Hay: Leeds in hunt to sign Championship attacker, was left out of matchday squad y'day

Leeds United are in the hunt to sign Reading midfielder Ovie Ejaria, according to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay.

Reporting via his personal Twitter account on Sunday after being asked who the Whites are chasing to add to their central midfield options, Hay said that Leeds had been looking at 22-year-old Ejaria.

However, the former Yorkshire Evening Post journalist added that he doubts Leeds will secure a deal for the former Liverpool midfielder.

Ejaria has been brilliant for Reading since joining the Berkshire club from Liverpool last year.

Last season, the London-born midfielder scored three goals and supplied five assists in 36 Championship appearances while stats by WhoScored show that no player averaged more dribbles per game [3.1] than him in the entire second-tier.

Ejaria can play as a central attacking midfielder or on the left-wing, which is where he’s mainly played for Reading in the opening matches of this season.

Interestingly, Ejaria is a key player at the Madejski Stadium but was left out of the matchday squad on Saturday when the Royals won 1-0 against Watford.

Speaking after the match [BerkshireLive], Reading manager Veljko Paunovic said that Ejaria had “symptoms of stomach flu”.

How many times have we heard that before when players are linked with moves away from their club?

Hay doesn’t see this deal happening but with the international transfer window set to shut on Monday, Leeds could ramp up their pursuit of Ejaria once they are only able to sign players from Premier League and EFL clubs.

In other Leeds United news, the Whites have hit a snag in yet another transfer deal.