On August 27, Simon Jones wrote a piece for the paper’s website stating that the Whites had earlier attempted to acquire the Austrian international for up to £8 million, but their approach had been turned down.

That is significantly more than what was previously reported in Germany by BILD (August 25) or Kisser (August 18), when the single offer reportedly came from Elland Road and was valued at €4 million [£3.38 million].

However, after Sheffield United rejected a £13 million proposal for Gustavo Hamer, Leeds is reportedly thinking of increasing the offer even further, according to the Mail.

Ljubicic is eager to join, so eager that his agent Volker Struth dropped him after the 26-year-old and his entourage attempted to push through a deal [BILD, 23 August].

Leeds United demands the replacement of Glen Kamara.

Given that Ljubicic is in the final year of his contract and Koln was demoted to the 2.Bundesliga this season, the Whites may have anticipated being able to get him for a steep discount.

However, it appears the German team is playing hardball if they have already made an offer that may potentially approach £8 million and are now planning to raise it even higher.

After leaving for Rennes for nearly the same fee, Glen Kamara still needs to be replaced, and the nine-cap Austrian international might play at the base of the midfield [BBC Sport, July 16].

However, Struth is rumoured to have switched agents five times in the last ninety days, which may raise some red flags at Elland Road after he left.