The Sunday People report that United have decided the Saints boss is the man to keep them in the Premiership and then move them onto bigger things, with money not an object.
An official approach to Saints chairman Rupert Lowe is expected, The SP reveal.
Leeds have considered all their options and with the input of new money from their backers, Leeds-daft Arabian Sheikh Abdul Mubarrak Al-Khalifa and Alan Leighton, they have chosen ex-Leeds skipper Strachan.
The SP states that the relationship between Strachan and his chairman Lowe has become 'strained' recently as new contract talks have taken place.
Leeds, despite their massive financial problems, will pay a transfer fee for Strachan, and then offer him suitable personal terms to come back 'home'.
Strachan transformed Leeds as a player, taking them from the doldrums of the then Second Division to the First Division championship.
Also, Strachan is a bit of an eccentric who would see the job of lifting Leeds out of trouble again as just the challenge he requires.