Chances of Leeds United signing Everton's Ben Godfrey revealed | OneFootball

Everton are not interested in sanction a loan or permanent exit for Leeds United target Ben Godfrey before the deadline passes on Wednesday, according to Leeds Live.

The Whites will be looking to strengthen their defence in the coming days, with Luke Ayling and Djed Spence's departures leaving them short of options at full-back.

Junior Firpo and Sam Byram can operate in this area, but both usually play on the left-hand side and this has left Daniel Farke reliant on Archie Gray on the right-hand side.

Gray, who is only 17 at this stage, has adapted extremely well to Championship football and has been one of the first names on the teamsheet at Elland Road.

And even though he has done a superb job at right-back, getting the better of many talented second-tier wingers, his natural position is in midfield.

Godfrey can operate as a full-back and may have been targeted because of this.

He can also play in central defence though - and although Leeds have a decent number of options in this area at the moment - departures can't be ruled out before Wednesday's deadline.

Liam Cooper's contract expires in the summer and he has attracted interest from Stoke City this month.

Charlie Cresswell is also a wanted man - but whether any club can put together a package that will satisfy the Whites remains to be seen.

Godfrey hasn't played that much this term - and this has potentially been the reason why some clubs have taken an interest in him - with those teams potentially confident that the Toffees would sanction an exit for him.

The player may also be keen to make a move considering he isn't playing regularly, despite the fact he has been included in the matchday squad more often than not this term.

Having previously played for England, he will want to play every week again to try and force his way back into Gareth Southgate's plans.

But at the moment, the Toffees aren't prepared to let him leave, either on loan or permanently.

Leeds United need to move on to other targets

Leeds have no time to waste in their likely quest to sign a full-back.

With less than 72 hours of the window left to go, they haven't addressed this area yet and that's a surprise.

Leo Hjelde's likely move could help them to push through a signing.

But they will have even less time to address this area by the time Hjelde is officially signed.

They need to make aggressive moves to give themselves the best chance of strengthening.

But whether they can get a deal over the line remains to be seen. It will be a major disappointment for them if they don't becuase they've had the whole month to bring someone in.

However, without looking at the state of their finances and how close they are to breaching financial limits, it's hard to judge whether the club should be criticised.