Leeds United and their owners are playing hardball over the permanent sale of one of their loanees this summer, it has emerged.

Farke's side in hunt for promotion

Daniel Farke's Leeds side are two games away from promotion out of the Championship and back into the top flight, with a play-off semi-final second leg against Norwich City to come before a potential showdown at Wembley, where they will take on one of Southampton or West Brom.

They will have to make history to do so though, with Leeds never having been promoted via the play-offs, and their last failure coming against Derby County in 2019, though they secured automatic promotion the following season.

Their uncertainty makes squad planning difficult, a task made all the more tricky by the recent losses announced by the club, which amount to £33.7m, while they also have significant transfer fees still due to clubs. But now, reports suggest that they are looking to maximise what they have already, and won't be taken for a ride by clubs looking for cheap deals.

Leeds bargaining over loanee

Leeds will not be letting players leave on the cheap this summer if they can help it, as Borussia Monchengladbach are finding out. The German outfit are where Maximilian Wober has spent this season, after leaving Elland Road on loan six months after arriving at the club.

He has appeared 25 times in the German top flight, contributing two goals and three assists, and the powers that be at the club would like to keep him there on a permanent basis after an impressive campaign.

However, they are running into trouble because no option or obligation to buy the Austrian was included in the loan deal, which means that his performances have only made it more difficult for them to sign him.

According to Bild, it is now likely that his final game for the club will come against Stuttgart, because Leeds are demanding 17m euros (£14.5m) to make the deal permanent, 3m euros more than his valuation as per Transfermarkt.

For their part, 'Gladbach are only willing to part with 9m euros to make the deal permanent, but Leeds are hoping that a strong European Championship for the defender will see interest increase and incite a bidding war for the defender, who has three years left to run on his £35,000 a week contract at Elland Road.

Borrusia Mönchengladbach sporting director Roland Virkus admitted keeping Wober would be a struggle: “We are having discussions with everyone involved, of course we would like to keep Max with us. But the demands are extremely high.”

Wober could be a useful option for Daniel Farke if Leeds makes it back into the Premier League. Should they remain in the Championship, the 49ers will be hoping to make a tidy profit on the defender, already making it clear they will not be made fools out of when it comes to their horde of loanees.