Newcastle United are rumoured to be ready to more than double their bid for Jermaine Beckford with a £3 million offer - but Leeds United chairman Ken Bates is still awaiting the phone call.

Empics / JohnWaltonJermaine Beckford is a man in demand

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An auction looks sure to start for Beckford with Middlesbrough also being linked with Leeds' star striker, hero of the FA Cup win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Bates told ESPN Soccernet: "This is the season for such stories in the newspapers. Do I believe it? Well, the papers suggested Middlesbrough had offered us £3 million for [Robert] Snodgrass, but I never saw their money"

Bates is sceptical that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley will authorise such a leap in Beckford's value, having rejected out of hand the initial offer of £1.2 million last month, even though manager Chris Hughton is desperate to sign him in this January transfer window.

The Leeds chief has no intention of selling the club's "crown jewels" such as Beckford and Snodgrass, who came off the bench to rattle Manchester United's bar with a free-kick.

Bates, ideally, would love Beckford to sign a new contract and commit his long term future to his five-year plan to restore Leeds to the pinnacle of the game. But while Beckford continues to decline a new contract - his current one expires at the end of the season - Bates keeps all of his options open.

Naturally, if the price is right, every player is for sale, as United's Sir Alex Ferguson decided with Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Bates is not a chairman to be railroaded into selling on the cheap, and he is perfectly happy to keep his nerve if he doesn't get the right price, and utilise Beckford in the final push for promotion even if he risks losing him for free at the end of his contract in the summer.