For a few hours on Saturday afternoon, focus finally returned to the football at Elland Road.
It has been a loud summer at Leeds United.
What should have been a period of calm preparation for the new season ended up becoming a rebuild. Eleven outgoings (not including released players) and eight signings brought anger, panic and finally, a degree of hope that they now have a squad with enough quality to win Premier League promotion this season.
The positives of the weekend’s 2-0 Championship home win against Hull City should have put a neat bow on Leeds’ summer business, which closed 16 hours before kick-off. Instead, manager Daniel Farke’s comments raised more questions about a window that was full of them.
Did Farke get what he wanted? Crucially, did he get what he feels Leeds need if they are to do better than last season’s painful promotion near-miss? His repeated mentioning of the signings’ lack of Championship experience — and, save for Manor Solomon, experience of any kind in English football — shows he sees Leeds as a ‘work in progress’ side.
“We are not the finished product,” he said. “It’s not like we have the individual quality like last season, where perhaps an opponent is sitting deep and then we have the magic of Cree (Crysencio Summerville, sold to West Ham for £25million) or Georginio Rutter (gone to Brighton for £40m), who can, with one situation, cut an opponent to pieces.
“We have still got work to do and for that, it’s fair to say, after so many key players left us, who in this league were dominating in their position, we maybe don’t have the brand any more to be the big favourite. We brought interesting players in but also players who are not completely proven or mature at this level, so for that, it’s a bit early to praise them right now and their qualities.”
With eight points from their first four league games, Leeds sit fourth in English football’s second tier and have navigated a bumpy first month of the season and come out of it in a decent position.
Here’s how their transfer window went…
GO DEEPER
Leeds United 2 Hull City 0: Solomon’s debut, Aaronson trusted again, Farke’s full-back headache
Was this window a success or a failure?
How Leeds perform this season will entirely dictate this answer but, based on what we know right now, there are reasons to look at a topsy-turvy summer positively.
Losing Archie Gray, Summerville and Rutter to Premier League clubs for a combined £105million ($138m) will be seen as a success story for Leeds’ recruitment department and academy if their replacements can fill the gaps left by their departures. Sales were necessary to keep within the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) this summer and making profits on players is good football business, but so many high-quality exits at once has not been ideal.
The smaller-scale outgoings and tidying up of the squad by moving on fringe players Marc Roca, Diego Llorente and Rasmus Kristensen, among others, was also a success.
Providing Farke with a squad who are willing and able to contribute to the cause was important after the upheaval of players choosing to go out on loan or trying to force exits last summer following Leeds’ relegation from the Premier League. This year, after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion and then losing to Southampton in the Championship play-off final, was free of such shenanigans.
Time will tell if this summer’s window has been a success but the level of overhaul — when it previously looked like Leeds would get away with one high-profile sale and some minor tweaks to the squad — was more extensive than anticipated. It is why Farke said “much work is needed” following the close of the window to ensure talented young players can take their time to reach their potential, while also helping the team’s short-term goal of returning to the top flight next spring.
Farke’s many caveats when speaking about the window hint he might not be perfectly happy with how it all unfolded, but he is committed to working with the players he has.
If Leeds again fail to win promotion, expect plenty of finger-pointing over how the summer of 2024 unfolded and the long shadows of the surprise release clauses in the contracts of three of their stars.
Farke didn’t get everything he wanted from the summer window (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
How much did they spend and how much did they bring in?
The three big sales of Gray to Tottenham for a total package worth up to £40million, Summerville to West Ham and Rutter to Brighton raised substantial funds.
Gray’s fee was crucial in resolving the outstanding PSR issues (Leeds were known to be close to the EFL’s limit on allowed losses), while all three came as a result of Premier League clubs meeting release clauses in their respective contracts. There were also bonus incomings of around £8million for Glen Kamara, who joined Rennes, £3.8m for Charlie Cresswell’s move to their fellow French side Toulouse, around £4m from Roca’s move to Real Betis and in the region of £2.5m for Llorente, also to that Spanish club.
All in, that is a rough figure in excess of £120million.
As for players coming the other way, Joe Rodon sealed a permanent return after last season’s successful loan when his £10million move from Spurs was concluded alongside the deal for Gray to go in the other direction. Adding to the defensive recruits were full-backs Jayden Bogle (£5m from Sheffield United) and Isaac Schmidt (an initial £2.5m from Switzerland’s St Gallen). Goalkeeper Alex Cairns signed from Salford City for a nominal fee while central midfielder Ao Tanaka (around £3m from Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany) and winger Largie Ramazani (£9m from Spanish club Almeria) completed the permanent transfers.
That is an approximate total spend of just under £30million, before any potential add-ons.
Who seems like the standout signing?
Tanaka. The deadline-day buy looked a class act in a brief cameo off the bench against Hull just hours later, retaining and moving the ball well in the centre of the park. It is still early days in terms of knowing how he can make the transition from Germany’s second division to its English equivalent but the 27-cap Japan international arrives as a very highly-rated recruit.
While the need to recruit at other positions became more pressing as the window progressed, Farke made clear he wanted more central-midfield options and Leeds finally landed Tanaka at the end of it.
As a replacement for Kamara, who moved on after just one season at Elland Road, he should offer more than the Finland international offensively. With an eye for goal from range and plenty of athletic ability, the 25-year-old should complement Ethan Ampadu well. His ability to roam as a box-to-box player makes him a different prospect to Ampadu or Ilia Gruev, and should he navigate the transition to the Championship, it is easy to see him starting ahead of Joe Rothwell.
Having been signed for around £3million, Tanaka could prove a bargain with a very high ceiling if all goes to plan.
Tanaka should add quality to Leeds’ midfield (Cameron Smith/Getty Images)
Who could be the surprise package?
Schmidt. As Leeds’ last signing of the window late on Friday, the fans have not had a chance to see him in action yet but the former Switzerland Under-19 international, now 24, seems like a versatile addition to the squad.
He can play either full-back spot — although judging by his positional profile, he is something of a (wait for it) Swiss army knife. With 55 professional games as a left-back, nine at right-back, 13 playing left-winger/left midfield and five in central midfield, Schmidt can also do a job further forward if needed, and played at European level with St Gallen last season.
A more low-key arrival than some of the forward players added this summer, Schmidt should provide good competition for Bogle, Junior Firpo and Sam Byram. There is room for a well-rounded full-back offering offensive threat and defensive security in the pack, and Schmidt is at the right age to grow with this side as Leeds target promotion.
Will any of their exits hurt them?
Yes. The big three were all crucial last season, although both Gray and Summerville feel replaceable. Rutter, though an imperfect player who still needed to iron out some kinks in his game, feels like he leaves a bigger hole, not least because Leeds were unable to land a No 10 before the deadline. A combined 27 goals and the same number of assists from last season departed with him and Summerville.
The most painful departure from an emotional standpoint, however, was that of Gray. His move did little to boost Leeds’ owner 49ers Enterprises’ credit with fans and will sting for a long time due to his progress through their academy and deep ties to the club as the third generation of his family to pull on the white shirt.
Gray’s departure to Spurs stung for Leeds fans (Masashi Hara/Getty Images)
Are there still any obvious gaps in the team?
A specialist No 10 was vital, but Leeds failed to land anyone that met their requirements before the end of the window.
Brighton’s ability to trigger Rutter’s release clause in the final hours before it expired left the club with just a few weeks to find a replacement and it proved beyond them.
The time limitation on Rutter’s clause was designed precisely to avoid a situation where Leeds would be left short but it is where they now find themselves, with Brenden Aaronson and Joel Piroe sharing the role early in the season. Neither can operate in the way Rutter did but should offer different types of build-up play.
Farke will make do, but the question of whether Leeds could have spent more to get what they needed remains.
What is their strongest XI now the window is shut?
Illan Meslier; Bogle, Rodon, Pascal Struijk, Firpo; Ampadu, Tanaka, Aaronson; Solomon, Gnonto, Mateo Joseph.
The full list of ins and outs
IN
Joe Rodon (£10million) — Tottenham
Largie Ramazani (£9m) — Almeria
Jayden Bogle (£5m) — Sheffield United
Ao Tanaka (£3m) — Fortuna Dusseldorf
Isaac Schmidt (£2.5m) — St Gallen
Alex Cairns (nominal) — Salford City
Manor Solomon (loan) — Tottenham
Joe Rothwell (loan) — Bournemouth
OUT
Georginio Rutter (£40million) — Brighton
Archie Gray (up to £40m) — Tottenham
Crysencio Summerville (£25m) — West Ham
Glen Kamara (£8m) — Rennes
Marc Roca (£4m) — Real Betis
Charlie Cresswell (£3.8m) — Toulouse
Diego Llorente (£2.5m) — Real Betis
Rasmus Kristensen (loan) — Eintracht Frankfurt
Sam Greenwood (loan) — Preston North End
Darko Gyabi (loan) — Plymouth Argyle
Sonny Perkins (loan) — Leyton Orient.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
