Daniel Farke has outlined which boxes he wishes to be ticked regarding January transfer recruits at Leeds United; they must be of good quality, of great character and affordable. “We want to make a signing not just out of panic reasons or because everyone thinks we need to do a signing. We just want to make a signing when it really makes sense that all boxes are ticked," was the message from Farke.

Cameron Archer, it seems, meets the criteria. Leeds recently approached Southampton over their striker albeit have been turned away. Manager Ivan Juric has suggested that Archer won’t be leaving St Mary’s while United themselves are not expecting that a deal can be agreed.

But there must be a slither of hope left. Because United are set to monitor the situation in the final days of the window in case the needle moves. And coach Juric has only started top scorer Archer just once in his seven matches in charge, not fielding him at all in two of them.

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Should Archer not get onto the pitch against fellow relegation strugglers Ipswich Town on Saturday, Leeds have a greater case to fight for his signature. Even new manager Juric himself admitted Archer has “suffered” due to a change in playing style, which surely leaves the door a touch ajar.

He said: “I think Cameron is a very good player and a great guy. For him, we’ve changed the style of game a little bit and maybe he’s suffered a little bit. But he is working really hard to understand what I want from him.

“We will see in these [coming] days. I don't think something will happen. He will stay with us and we will work with him, I think so.”

Farke has acknowledged that, currently, Leeds are an injury away from having just one fit striker available. Patrick Bamford's return may bolster the numbers back up to three soon, but he did not begin a league game before his setback.

"He’s in the final stages of rehab, but we also have to stay awake in the transfer market,” said Farke of Bamford on Thursday. “Due to the situation with Patrick and we are ambitious, we are having a deeper look at what is possible.”

Meanwhile, the striker options who are fit are meandering through rough patches. Joel Piroe has scored just once in six games - and not at all at Elland Road since November - while Mateo Joseph has failed to find the net since October.

Between them, all three of United’s natural striker options have scored 12 times - and 10 of them have come from Piroe. Saturday’s opponents Cardiff City have kept just one clean sheet in 17 league matches and so Leeds’ attackers will be spying the chance to up their numbers.

Farke has spoken about instilling confidence and faith into his strikers, so despite Piroe’s recent run, he is likely to still start.

Should he fail to score again, which would take his record to just one goal in seven matches, the impetus on United to find another striker option before Monday’s deadline increases.

Furthermore, should Archer not start or even get onto the pitch against Ipswich, both the player and United will perhaps gain more transfer clarity and have more argument to sit down for another round of talks.