Yosuke Ideguchi
Yosuke Ideguchi won the prestigious Rookie of the Year and New Hero awards during his time at Gamba Osaka Masashi Hara/Getty Images

Leeds United have made their second signing of the January transfer window, with Japanese midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi completing his long-awaited move from J1 League outfit Gamba Osaka for a reported fee of £500,000.

The all-action 21-year-old, who already has 11 senior international caps to his name and is likely to feature at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, penned a four-and-a-half year contract at Elland Road after undergoing a medical on Monday (8 January).

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Talks over a possible deal first began in September, when director of football Victor Orta revealed Leeds were close to confirming a "big surprise" arrival from Asia.

As expected, Ideguchi will not be immediately integrated into Thomas Christiansen's first-team squad for a possible Premier League promotion push and has instead been immediately loaned to Cultural Leonesa.

"My dream, my one goal, is to play in the Premier League," Ideguchi told Leeds' official website. "I want to take this team to the Premier League as that will be a big achievement.

"This transfer to Leeds United is the right move for me and I will train hard every day to show everyone I made the right decision by coming here.

"I believe my biggest strength is in defence, I'm going to battle really hard. I know the crowd here like a player who battles, so in every game, I'm going to do my best and give 100 per cent."

Leeds, who said such a loan was likely while confirming that a fee had been agreed late last week, are linked to the Spanish second-division strugglers - in addition to Belgian side KAS Eupen - through their newly-launched partnership with the Qatari Aspire Academy that was established in 2004 and is led by current board member and former Real Madrid director of strategy Ivan Bravo.

Ex-Juventus midfielder Ouasim Bouy's disappointing loan deal with Cultural Leonesa was recently terminated due to a lack of first-team appearances, while Leeds denied claims that they had signed Ideguchi's compatriot Yuta Toyokawa from Fagiano Okayama before sending him to Eupen.

"It is the first time I will have been playing in Spain, so I will try to learn new techniques in a different style of football," Ideguchi said of his switch to Leon. "It will be a good experience for me and hopefully I can come back to Leeds and be a strong force."

Leeds, currently occupying the final Championship play-off spot after winning 13 of their 26 league matches this term but are out of the FA Cup after suffering a shock third-round loss away to League Two Newport County on Sunday, have already signed 19-year-old Finnish defender Aapo Halme from HJK Helsinki this month, although he is mainly expected to feature for the Under-23s.

Belgian left-back Laurens De Bock is believed to be close to sealing a move from Club Brugge - a deal that could hasten the premature cancellation of Manchester United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson's disastrous season-long spell in West Yorkshire.