Leeds United links with Hoffenheim striker Mergim Berisha have re-emerged amid Patrick Bamford's injury setback.

Bamford has not started a Championship game this season, but there are concerns about the club's front line strength beyond top-scorer Joel Piroe, who is out of Saturday's FA Cup tie with Harrogate Town with muscle complaints.

Mateo Joseph, then, could be granted a 12th start having not scored since early October. Berisha was initially linked with Leeds in previous weeks before speculation grew cold.

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But rumours have remerged upon Sky Germany's claims that Daniel Farke has an interest in the 26-year-old. The report states Leeds could look to offer an 18-month loan deal, with an option to buy contained within the terms. However, LeedsLive understands that the club are not in for Berisha this month.

Berisha is a two-time Germany international - having won both of his caps in March 2023. He made his debut in a friendly against Peru when coming on for the final 15 minutes, before then being given 10 minutes against Belgium three days later.

The forward did not score or assist in his 25 minutes across both outings and has not been called up since. At the time of his appearances, he was playing for Augsburg (on loan from Fenerbahce) and finished the 2022/23 season with 10 goals in 24 club matches.

The German outfit triggered the option-to-buy clause in his loan deal that summer, for a fee of around £3.3million, but was sold to current club Hoffenheim eight weeks later for a profit of just over £8m.

After signing a four-year deal, Berisha failed to net in his first seven Hoffenheim matches before then suffering an ACL tear in early November 2023. The setback ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

Berisha recovered in time for the beginning of this season, netting his first goal for the club in a 4-1 defeat to German champions Bayer Leverkusen in September. That match was one of just three league starts this campaign, having been substituted in for the other eight.

In November, the striker was taken off by manager Pellegrino Matarazzo just 27 minutes into his club's 4-3 defeat to Werder Bremen after teammate Stanley Nsoki was sent off on 18 minutes with Hoffenheim 3-0 up.

Reports later emerged that he would be internally suspended after allegedly acting out of line afterwards behind closed doors. While this speculation was never verified, Berisha was omitted from their next two matchday squads and initially missed training.

He was allowed to return to training after the November international break - thanks to sporting director Andras Schicker acting as a mediator between the player and coach Matarazzo.

The fall-out was resolved, although Berisha was left out of the squad for a subsequent game against Bochum.

"He [Berisha] used the time off well to reflect and to reorient himself toward our shared team goals," said Matarazzo ahead of the Bochum match. Berisha has not started a single Bundesliga match since.

His only subsequent start in cup competitions came in November's 3-0 defeat to SC Braga in the Europa League. Berisha - contracted to Hoffenheim until 2027 - has meanwhile gone three Europa League matches and three DFB Pokal ties without scoring.