Leeds United are "encouraged" by Southampton's apparent interest in QPR attacker Bright Osayi-Samuel, a report from Football Insider has claimed.

It was revealed earlier this week that Southampton are keen on a move for Osayi-Samuel, who played the full 90 minutes of Rangers' 1-0 win over Leeds on Saturday.

According to the latest reports, Leeds are thought to be optimistic that if Osayi-Samuel does make the move to St Mary's, that will boost their hopes of securing the signing of another of the Saints' current attacking options, Che Adams.

Marcelo Bielsa's side are said to still be hopeful of completing a deal for Adams before the end of January, having reportedly made multiple offers to secure the services of the striker this month, and believe that it would help their cause here if Southampton were to sign Osayi-Samuel this month.

Adams only joined Southampton from Birmingham City during the most recent summer transfer window, signing for a fee said to be in the region of £15million, after scoring 22 goals in 46 league games for the Blues last season.

Since then, the attacker has failed to score in 21 appearances in all competitions for his new club, and was used only as an 84th-minute substitute in Southampton's 2-0 win at Crystal Palace on Tuesday night.

Despite that, Southampton manager Ralph Hassenhuttl has reiterated throughout the course of the window that Adams will not be allowed to leave the club this month, although it remains to be seen if the addition of another attacking option such as Osayi-Samuel will change that stance.

The Verdict

It certainly seems as though the proverbial transfer window merry-go-round is coming to the fore here.

You can understand why Leeds would be hopeful that Southampton's signing of Osayi-Samuel would help their pursuit of Adams here, given it would give the Saints another attacking option to fill the void left by the 23-year-old.

That could then clear the way for Leeds to make a move for Adams, which given their evident need for a striker this month following Eddie Nketiah's recall by Arsenal and their own recent poor form, could be crucial to their hopes of promotion this season.

Even so, with just a matter of days remaining in the transfer window, Leeds do seem to be banking on things moving quickly, if they are expecting to have to wait until Southampton sign Osayi-Samuel before moving for Adams, meaning they ought to have other options open here in case this chain of deals takes too long to complete.