Real Madrid are unlikely to loan striker Mariano Diaz out in January, Leganes coach Asier Garitano has said.
Mariano, a former Madrid Castilla forward, had seemed set to spend the second half of the season elsewhere but then hit a Copa del Rey hat trick against La Cultural Leonesa and a first La Liga goal against Deportivo La Coruna.
He almost joined Leganes on loan in the summer, with Malaga and Las Palmas among other teams rumoured to be interested, but Garitano told AS: "I don't know if he will leave -- I don't think so.
"We were missing players in that position, centre-forward, but now we have three. We need players in other positions now -- in midfield, at centre-back and goalkeeper."
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said after Mariano's hat trick that the club "wanted him to have playing time."
He added: "After the summer he wanted to stay with us -- we will see later what happens in January. He did very well."
Mariano, fourth-choice centre-forward at the Bernabeu, has scored five goals in just 123 minutes this season, making him the most productive player in any of Europe's top leagues.