Leeds United January window review — and what they are planning for the summer – The Athletic
Leeds United ended the window with the same sized squad they started it with.
Jack Harrison left on loan and Facundo Buonanotte arrived until the end of the season, one attacking player for another and a change virtually everyone would accept is an upgrade.
Jorgen Strand Larsen was seen as something of a perfect storm in this window, a player who ticked a lot of United’s boxes and was available, but it proved to be a move they could not pull off.
However, aside from the Norwegian, a centre-forward was not a general target in this window. And while Harry Gray was sent out to gain valuable senior experience on loan, Daniel Farke now tackles the final 14 matches of the season with pretty much the same squad, which has performed well since early December, hoping they can stay in the division.
The information found within this article has been gathered according to The Athletic’s sourcing guidelines. Sources with knowledge of transfer dealings, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, have been spoken to before offering the clubs involved the opportunity to comment.
Was this window a success or a failure?
As is often the case with questions like this, the answer is somewhere in the middle. Based on how the summer window ended, Farke felt they were two attackers shy.
They pursued Harry Wilson on deadline day last September, but failed to land at the 11th hour. Wilson was only chased at the last minute because they had been left in the lurch by Buonanotte’s late decision to turn his back on Leeds in favour of Chelsea.
To have now landed the Argentine, as they wanted last summer, is a major step forward for the team. By the same token, shifting Harrison, an out-of-favour option, off the books, along with the vast majority of his salary, is a big success too.
The form Leeds have shown since early December has calmed much of the anxiety there would have been about reinforcing in this window. Everyone can see the current crop of players has put the club in a position to stay up, but the fear will be what happens to the team if Dominic Calvert-Lewin gets injured.
The No 9 has been well managed up to now, but Lukas Nmecha, his understudy, has continued to pick up niggles throughout the campaign, while Joel Piroe has often been overlooked by Farke as an option. Strand Larsen, or an alternative striker, may have softened any Calvert-Lewin blow.
A left-sided back-up in defence was wanted in this window, but Farke and the hierarchy accepted there were no options available which met their desired profile. The lack of depth in central defence, where Sebastiaan Bornauw is the only natural back-up across three slots, might be the greatest concern.
Retaining Illan Meslier, a third-choice goalkeeper on significant wages, and Piroe, a striker down the pecking order with sizeable resale value, may be considered failures by some. Critics will suggest a Piroe sale could have helped with landing a striker better suited to this season’s tactics.
However, the Dutch forward made it explicitly clear he had no intention of moving in this window, while Meslier is out of contract in the summer and will surely benefit more from moving as a free agent.
Leeds wanted Strand-Larsen but he did not join (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
How much did they spend and how much did they bring in?
There were no significant swings on the club’s balance sheet with Buonanotte’s loan coming in and the loans of Gray and Harrison going out. The vast majority of the latter’s salary will be paid by Fiorentina too, which was a pleasing outcome for the Leeds hierarchy.
Who have they signed?
Five months after he left a Leeds-bound aeroplane waiting on the runway to join Chelsea, Buonanotte finally signed with United.
Leeds chiefs were puzzled by his desire to join a club swarming with senior internationals and designs on winning trophies, given he had struggled to break into parent club Brighton & Hove Albion’s team. Ultimately, Buonanotte played just 45 minutes in the Premier League for Chelsea.
Sources at Elland Road, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, indicate the Argentina international had pushed to end his London loan early in order to make amends in West Yorkshire. He will need some time to sharpen up, but Farke is sure they have something different in Buonanotte, a left-footed playmaker who likes to cut in from the right flank.
Were there any deals they wanted to do that they didn’t get over the line?
Strand Larsen would have been the icing on the cake. As a 6ft 4in, 25-year-old Norwegian striker with 14 goals in his maiden Premier League campaign, at a Championship-bound club open to offloading him for a competitive price, Leeds could not resist exploring a deal.
As it was, negotiations went back and forth, with no agreement on a fee, until Crystal Palace blew them out of the water with a bigger bid. Naturally, Wolverhampton Wanderers went with the more lucrative package.
On Sunday, The Athletic reported Palace had agreed a package of £43million, plus £5m in add-ons, for Strand Larsen. Leeds were not willing to go beyond a deal worth £40m. After the summer window closed, managing director Robbie Evans told the media the club had spent every available penny of its profit and sustainability (PSR) allowance.
Evidently, Leeds felt they had the means to both acquire Strand Larsen and adhere to PSR rules, but there were always going to be limits to what they could offer Wolves.
Are there still any obvious gaps in the team?
While Farke is right in saying he is not married to any one base formation, it’s also fair to say his default starting shapes are 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. When you lay out the players currently on the books in that formation, central defence feels like a pinch point.
Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol and Pascal Struijk are Farke’s starters, but Bornauw is the only natural back-up for them who is not needed, or better, in another role. James Justin, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev and Sam Byram could feasibly be asked to play in a back three by Farke, but it’s not hard to see how other areas suffer if three or four injuries hit at the same time.
There is an abundance of attack-minded players, but some fans may be concerned about what happens if Calvert-Lewin gets injured. Nmecha is his natural back-up, but has struggled with his own injuries.
Can Brenden Aaronson, Piroe, Noah Okafor, Daniel James, Wilfried Gnonto or Buonanotte play in a front two if their No 9 is missing? It would surely mean another system change.
Do they have the squad to achieve their goals for the season?
It feels like they should. Across the 11 matches since the club’s form improved at the start of December, Leeds are 10th in the league. That shows the current group of players has competed during the last two months.
If they keep Calvert-Lewin fit, there has to be confidence that with a six-point gap to 18th, they can see this over the line.
Will the manager/head coach be happy?
Unlike last summer, Farke kept his opinions on what the squad needed last month to himself. We know he ended that summer window without the two attackers he felt they needed.
Buonanotte has now been added, though Harrison has departed. The formation he predominantly uses now is different to the one he used last August, which can impact transfer desires.
He did say, in his pre-Arsenal press conference, he was keen to ensure the squad was not “extended”. He also said, “We can allow ourselves to be picky”. There has been no impression from the club, at any stage, that they were looking for anything beyond Buonanotte, Strand Larsen or a back-up left-back.
Farke has made it clear he does not want the club to spend over the odds on players. Going beyond £40m for Strand Larsen is unlikely to be something Farke pushed for in a window which, in his eyes, offered very few options capable of improving his squad. Sources have told The Athletic that Farke is content with how the window played out.
He accepts that the right players to fit his desired profiles did not emerge in January.
Farke does not want Leeds to pay over the odds for players (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
What will their priority be in the summer?
If they remain in the division, as they hope, it’s likely to be another busy summer of improving the squad across the board. The interest in Strand Larsen and the positive assessment of Union Berlin’s Danilho Doekhi show centre-backs and strikers are on their radar.
Beyond that, however, there is no position they will not look to reinforce in the summer as they try to consolidate their place in the top flight. Outgoings will also influence their priorities. Their better players will no doubt attract interest from up the food chain, and their ability to sell players for significant profits to unlock bigger spending will be critical.
Will they have money to spend?
The pursuit of Strand Larsen underlines how Leeds feel they can manipulate their finances to unlock spending power. Squad cost ratio (SCR) rules will apply from this summer, replacing PSR, which will alter the landscape slightly, but it is unlikely to suddenly unleash hundreds of millions in extra spending by Leeds.
Another year of guaranteed Premier League income will aid this summer’s transfer budget, as will the sales they inevitably have to make before the end of this summer’s window.
What is their strongest XI now the window is shut
Karl Darlow; Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk; Jayden Bogle, Brenden Aaronson, Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach, Gabriel Gudmundsson; Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lukas Nmecha.
The full list of ins and outs
Ins: Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton, loan).
Outs: Harry Gray (Rotherham United, loan), Jack Harrison (Fiorentina, loan).
