Leeds United are considering a loan bid from newly promoted Championship side Barnsley for Mallik Wilks and Aapo Halme, Football Insider have reported.

Both players have struggled for opportunities at Elland Road recently, with Wilks spending last season on loan at Doncaster in League One, while Halme made just five appearances in all competitions for Marcelo Bielsa's side last season, failing to complete a full 90 minutes for the club's first team.

Despite the lack of opportunities at Elland Road for the pair, allowing them to leave on loan could still be a mistake for Leeds.

Here, Football League World looks at two reasons why that may be the case.

Wilks' form last season

Although Doncaster ultimately missed out on promotion to the Championship via the play-offs last season, Wilks did his own reputation no harm during his time at the Keepmoat Stadium.

The attacker scored 16 goals and provided numerous assists for the Yorkshire side, demonstrating his ability to find the net both himself, and find teammates in position where they too can apply the finishing touches to an attack.

That was something that, at the latter end of the campaign, Leeds at times found themselves struggling to do so, which ended up costing them in the race for promotion.

Keeping Wilks around would provide Leeds with another option who could help them deal with that problem should they find themselves in a similar situation next season, where you feel promotion is now an absolute must following last season's campaign, and the subsequent interest in a number of high profile figures around the club.

Problem positions

One of the reasons why Leeds struggled up front towards the end of the season was injuries to attacking players such as Kemar Roofe, limiting Leeds' attacking threat at the time they needed it most.

Their cause wasn't helped in that situation by a similar problem at the other end of the pitch, with Leeds' defence left exposed by its own fitness issues as the club somewhat limped over the finishing line at the end of the regular season.

Having an additional attacker such as Wilks and extra defender in the shape of Halme could help to solve that issue.

While they may not be first choice for those crucial games at the end of the season, having those extra players in the squad to be rotated could give those first choice options the breaks they need to ensure they are fit and ready for the end of the season this time around, when they will be hoping that promotion is on the line again.