When The Athletic’s Phil Hay posts on social media, Leeds United fans listen.

The reliable reporter was at it again on Sunday to give the Whites faithful an update on the club’s pursuit of Southampton striker Che Adams.

The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Elland Road, and Hay’s latest report got many fans excited.

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He claimed that Adams is still Marcelo Bielsa’s top attacking target, with the Whites now ready to meet the Saints hierarchy’s £1 million loan fee demand with an obligation to purchase Adams in the summer for more than £10 million.

Hay shared the news on social media on Sunday, which led to these Leeds fans sharing their excitement over a deal.

@OliverMedd7: Adams would be ******* huge for this club if this gets done.


Read Southampton verdict

We can understand why these Whites supporters are buzzing over the latest news, as, in our opinion, Adams could be the difference between promotion or another year in the second tier for Leeds.

Marcelo Bielsa likes to play an attacking style of football at Elland Road, and his centre forward is key both with and without the ball.

Current first-choice striker Patrick Bamford has been fairly wasteful in stages throughout the course of the campaign.

He’s netted 10 goals in 2,006 minutes of Championship action, a goal every 200 minutes, via Whoscored.com.

Bamford’s also averaged 3.3 shots per game, so really, the 26-year-old needs around seven shots for every goal he’s scored at Elland Road.

Compare that to Adams’ record for Birmingham City last season, and the 23-year-old’s stats prove to be more impressive.

Again, via Whoscored.com, Adams scored 22 times in 3,740 minutes of action for the Blues, averaging 2.5 shots a game.

That works out to a goal every 170 minutes, so Adams would need just shy of five shots for every goal he scored last season.

In our opinion, that two-shot difference could be crucial in the second half of the campaign, so having Adams in Bielsa’s ranks, in our view, could help Leeds secure promotion back to the top flight.

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