Noel Whelan has told Leeds United they must avoid groundhog day this month and sign the striker that the club need to add to their promotion push.
Leeds have lost the services of Eddie Nketiah, with Arsenal recalling the youngster, but Whelan does not feel the striker was necessarily the player the Whites needed anyway.
They are now chasing Southampton hitman Che Adams, but it is far from clear whether a deal can be done with Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl wanting the player to stay put; he came off the bench to provide a match-winning assist on Saturday.
Leeds chased Daniel James last January only to see the deal fall apart on deadline day – and Whelan is desperate for the same thing not to happen again.
"What we need is quality. Nketiah is a good player, but I think we need proven goalscorers, not some 20-year-old or 18-year-old", Whelan said on BBC Radio Leeds after the Whites lost against Sheffield Wednesday.
"I think we need someone with a bit more experience who's going to come in and hit the ground running, that knows where the back of the net is, that is hungry to score, that is going to help Patrick Bamford and get the goals that are going to get us up to the Premier League, keep us in that top two.
"Is it going to be groundhog day again? Every time we get to January we do absolutely zip! Then we look back and regret it", he added.
Leeds have seen their lead over third place in the Championship cut to just six points, with Pontus Jansson's Brentford starting to apply pressure.
