As the takeover needs completion, the latest player to be linked with a move to Elland Road is Nottingham Forest captain Luke Chambers, provide we can fight off the competition from Ipswich Town.

Yesterday we reported that Leicester’s Lee Peltier was likely to be heading to Leeds even though the takeover had yet to be officially announced, but the latest indications are that the deal has already been done, so it’s quite possible that the new owners have already told the manager that he can go ahead and start spending their money.

And not before time, as Neil Warnock has already missed out on a couple of his intended transfer targets when the funds weren’t available at the right time, so he now needs to be allowed to get on with building a squad without any further delay. With the defence in dire need of strengthening he is reported to be in contact with Luke Chambers, a central defender who is available on a free transfer.

26-year-old.Chambers has spent the last five seasons at the City Ground, but has been reluctant to commit himself to a new contract while the ownership of the midlands club is uncertain and their manager Steve Cotterill is unsure where he stands. Forest are in the process of having a buy-out of their own, but unlike the takeover at Elland Road it is still some way from being completed.

In April Chambers said “I want to be involved in a team that is moving in the right direction. Hopefully I can do that, wherever that might be.” Clearly he doesn’t feel that applies to his current club, despite the impressive run of results that pulled them clear of relegation trouble at the end of last season. Ipswich were the first club to express an interest in the player, with Paul Jewell hoping to complete a deal by the end of next week, but Warnock is now hoping to nip in and take Chambers to Leeds instead.

The manager told the Yorkshire Post “I want to make sure that as many signings as possible are here before we start on July 11. That’s the first day of pre-season, when you want or need most of your players on board. That’s when everything starts.”

And it will also help if we can hang on to the better players who are already at Leeds, so let’s hope that the new owners will offer improved deals to Snoddy, White, Clayton and McCormack to persuade them their future does lie at Elland Road after all.

With the owners are already starting to make their presence felt, perhaps we can now dare to hope that better times lie ahead.

Photo: Action Images

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