Was winning away at Ipswich Town a corner turned for Leeds United? Not according to Daniel Farke, whose way of avoiding counting chickens was to joke that “the next corner waits behind the next wall” – as close to Aristotle as the average Championship press conference gets.
One win does not a fine season make and besides, as Farke sat and spoke at Ipswich, he and Leeds still had a transfer window to wrap up. The finished article is an intangible concept for managers, something very difficult to touch, and Farke could see that his squad was not there yet: lethal in their attacking play at Portman Road but less functional than they should be at the back; much better for one key piece of recruitment last week but not done in the market by quite a distance.
Farke saw an excellent result for what it was, highly encouraging in certain aspects, but the real message of Saturday’s game was resounding: get this week right and Leeds will be in the mix. Fill the gaps that need filling, elevate the positions where quality is limited or lacking, and watch what happens.
The curiosity about how Leeds’ dressing room is likely to look when the deadline passes rarely gets more intense because the club have given themselves a chance of beating a window that, at various moments, looked like beating them.
Leeds, a few days out from September 1, are five signings to the good and have invested financially to the tune of around £20million ($25.2m). That they were talking last week about committing a further £5million to Nadiem Amiri and close to £10million to Joseph Paintsil was proof that they had more money available, some headroom below the financial fair play limit and the inclination to spend. The impact of Joel Piroe, their new £10.5million striker, at Ipswich was a perfect example of what well-targeted cash can do, glossing a forward line with which Ipswich could not cope.
Last week, it was reported that Amiri’s proposed move from Bayer Leverkusen was off and the bid for Genk’s Paintsil had run into trouble. Leeds, however, remained convinced that neither deal was dead.
Amiri was on Leverkusen’s bench against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday but didn’t play. Leeds have had an offer for Amiri accepted by his Bundesliga side and the move is down to him, a Germany international who Leeds accept would be dropping below his true level by coming to the Championship. Farke realised when he pushed Amiri’s name forward as a possibility that an affordable price did not make it an easy signing to pull off.
Amiri on the bench for Leverkusen during pre-season (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
The No 10 area in Farke’s team is one position where additional options would be sensible. Piroe debuted there in a very fluid forward line against Ipswich, performing to very good effect, but it stands to reason that the Dutchman will gravitate into the centre-forward slot soon. Farke sees Crysencio Summerville as more of a central attacker than a winger, but Amiri is substantially more proven than Summerville and Saturday’s victory showed that the right amount of creativity in that area will yield an ample number of goals this season.
Paintsil, a Ghana international for whom Leeds submitted a formal offer on Friday, would strengthen Farke’s options again while also mitigating the possibility that a large offer arrives for, say, Luis Sinisterra before the deadline. Paintsil, however, rejected a move to Southampton last week and reports in Belgium suggest he is minded to stay with Genk beyond the end of the window. Leeds believe their interest in him still has a chance of paying off, though Genk have not accepted their initial bid and all sides regard the situation as complicated. As a whole, this will be a fast-moving period.
Behind their front line, Leeds are also looking for a central midfielder and, especially after Sam Byram’s adductor strain at Ipswich, a full-back. Leeds have more than one defender on their radar but an approach has been made for Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence (pictured top) to take him on a season-long loan. Spence is not in Ange Postecoglou’s plans for 2023-24 and Leeds have already done one deal with Spurs this summer, loaning Joe Rodon for the season. On the left-back front, they have looked at Burnley’s Charlie Taylor and Leicester City’s Luke Thomas. They have made two approaches for him in this window for what would likely be a loan deal, but Leicester are unsure about loaning him to a Championship rival.
Options are also open in the search for a central midfielder, a signing that would support Farke’s current pairing of Archie Gray and Ethan Ampadu. Leeds have been monitoring Rangers’ Glen Kamara for several weeks and have the necessary funds.
Glen Kamara is yet to play for Rangers this season (Mark Runnacles via Getty Images)
Talk in Germany of late interest in another Farke target, Fortuna Dusseldorf’s Ao Tanaka, is accurate. Nottingham Forest’s Lewis O’Brien, who was relatively close to joining Leeds from Huddersfield Town in 2021, has been linked heavily over the past seven days, although his wage and Forest’s valuation of him would potentially make him expensive. In all of these cases, Farke will have the final say.
Outwardly, the German has given measured responses to questions about what Leeds required and what he wanted the club to do before the window closed. Behind the scenes, he has been highly active in driving recruitment, insistent on dictating a direction of travel that would give him a fighting chance in the Championship.
Winning at Ipswich did not shape the season, not in Farke’s eyes anyway, but the events of this week might.
(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
