Jason Pearce is expected to arrive at Elland Road on Friday with the fee believed to be £500,000 from crisis club Portsmouth.

Pearce, 24 was clearly a massive hit at Fratton Park in what was his second spell, rejoining his first club Pompey from Bournemouth for a similar fee last summer. He scooped an astonishing seven awards when their Player of the Year gongs were handed out recently.

Portsmouth's relegation to League One and their crippling financial woes have forced a fire-sale and Pearce's move to Elland Road is apparently the worst kept secret of the close-season so far.

Meanwhile another former Portsmouth player regularly linked with Leeds, Sammy Clingan has apparently rejected a new-deal at Coventry, who like Portsmouth also slipped through the relegation trapdoor.

Warnock was also coy about raiding the third League One bound club Doncaster for the services of El Hadj Diouf, telling the world we will have to "wait and see" if he moves for the 31-year-old controversial striker.

Writing in today's YEP, Leeds legend Dominic Matteo urged Warnock to sign Diouf and backed the Leeds boss as being the perfect manager to handle Diouf.

However the smart money is on Jason Pearce being unveiled as Warnock's first of many big signings tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile Michael Brown, who made the long switch north from Pompey last summer has been offered a new-deal at Leeds consisting of one-year and a significantly reduced pay-packet than he was getting last season.

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