Leeds United in last-ditch effort to sign Samu Saiz despite reports of agreement with Eibar

Leeds United have reportedly joined the race to secure the services of Huesca star Samu Saiz. The former Real Madrid academy starlet was expected to move to Eibar ahead of the new season but Estadio Deportivo reports that Thomas Christiansen's side could make a last ditch offer to lure him to the Championship.

Saiz, 26, progressed through the various young ranks of the Real Madrid academy from the age of eight but left Los Blancos in 2010 after failing to breakthrough into the first-team.

The offensive midfielder, who can also play as a second striker, has since enjoyed spells at Sevilla Atletico, Union Deportivo Melilla, Getafe, Almeria, Atletico Madrid B and Huesca.

The rumoured Leeds target originally arrived to Huesca in the summer of 2015 on loan from Atletico Madrid but later completed a permanent move to the Aragones outfit after proving to be one of the best players of the Spanish second division.

The Spaniard led Huesca during the 2016-2017 campaign, scoring 12 goals and providing 8 assists in 40 appearances to help them end the campaign with a remarkable sixth place finish.

Saiz had been tipped to make a move to the top flight during the summer transfer window after his side failed to secure promotion to La Liga through the play-offs.

Malaga, Leganes, Alaves and Real Betis were all reportedly monitoring the situation but earlier this week, Marca reported that he was set to join Eibar on a four-year-deal.

Marca said the Basque side had agreed to pay €3m (£2.6m, $3.5m) for his services and that the deal would become official this week.

However, Estadio Deportivo is now reporting that Eibar face stiff competition to complete the deal after Leeds joined the race to secure his services.

New Leeds director of football Victor Orta knows Spanish football well and Estadio Deportivo says that he believes that his compatriot could be a good addition to help take the Whites back to the Premier League.

New manager Christiansen revealed earlier this week that Orta has already identified a list of potential targets that they will discuss next week.

"We start Monday, but of course there is a lot of work," Christiansen said in an interview with Leeds' official website. "Today I will sit down with Victor to speak about players we have in view. But Victor has done a very good job, he has a lot of experience with different teams in different countries.

"He already made a shortlist of players that can help the team. This is the most important, the players who can help the team, players who want to come here. We are not talking about the names, but the players themselves."