Why Leeds United swooped for Joel Piroe, a proven Championship goalscorer - The Athletic 25/8/23

By Phil Hay and more

Joel Piroe could almost be classed as the last remnants of the old scouting unit which ran Leeds United’s recruitment until the end of last season.

This time last year, Leeds were shaping up to have a go at signing Piroe, albeit in circumstances where he was far from top of their list. Deadline day in August 2022 found the club craving a striker and after Cody Gakpo and Bamba Dieng slipped through their fingers, an approach was made to Swansea City for Piroe. It was late, it was desperate and the bid got nowhere.

Leeds held Premier League status back then and Gakpo had been their dream ticket; that was, after a prior attempt to court Charles De Ketelaere. But descent into the EFL in May generated a fresh focus on Piroe — signed on Thursday night on a £10.5million ($13.2m) deal, potentially rising to £16million with add-ons, from Swansea — which was more considered and more serious.

Piroe’s reputation was that of a Championship goalscorer and no mistake. He had been at the forefront of Leeds’ mind since the start of the summer, a deal they hoped to do if the pieces fell into place.

Leeds, after all, have not had life their own way this summer. Away from the spate of departing players, they pitched for Gustavo Hamer but were priced out by a £15million offer from Sheffield United. They expressed an interest in Cameron Archer but Sheffield United made sure of him by repeating the trick and tabling a fee no EFL side would match. They had Max Aarons in the building for a medical, only for Aarons to ditch them for Bournemouth. The risk of an ambush with Piroe was equally real. But this time there was no door waiting to slam in their face.

Piroe is a bona fide No 9 and, as Leeds’ fifth new recruit, he gives Daniel Farke something he was otherwise lacking.

Farke has other forwards in his squad, players who might regard themselves as direct competition for Piroe, but there are issues with all of them. Patrick Bamford has not been reliably fit for two years and was injured before this season even began. Georginio Rutter is United’s record signing but could not pretend to have found his groove, nor proven yet that he is likely to. Mateo Joseph is young, raw and also carrying an injury. The clutch of options is not what the Championship would class as armed-to-the-teeth.

But Piroe, on paper and in the flesh, is different. A former PSV Eindhoven junior, his two seasons with Swansea have shown that he has the physique and the durability for England’s second division, the long slog of 46 games or 49 if the play-offs come into the reckoning. He averaged very close to one goal from every two league games at Swansea, with 19 last season and 22 the year before.

There were doubts in Swansea about whether the more direct tactical style preferred by new manager Michael Duff would suit Piroe less than the style of Duff’s predecessor Russell Martin. But this was good news for Farke, whose focus on possession should meet with Piroe’s approval. Farke told Leeds during his interview for the manager’s job that it would take 75 goals-plus to get out of the Championship, and chasing that total meant a concerted look at what was going on up front.

Piroe has done well for Swansea in more than one way. His £12million sale translates into a good profit on the £1million Swansea paid PSV for him in 2021. For two years, he was essentially the 20-goal forward every Championship coach looks for. But with a year to go on his contract, this week became a natural break-point.

Swansea were offering him a new two-year deal but Piroe was not rushing to accept it. Indications about the wage he was looking for, more than the Welsh club could afford, convinced their board that they would have to sell him. Duff continued to field Piroe but talked of his form falling short, his mind drifting elsewhere, all the noises that indicate a footballer is unsettled. Swansea could not countenance losing the 24-year-old on a free next summer and there was not much resistance once Leeds became active in bidding earlier this week.

Strong interest from United in Bayer Leverkusen’s Nadiem Amiri, a Germany international and a crafty No 10, might lead to a significant addition in behind Piroe and would cut a coup for a side in the English Championship.

The evidence of Leeds’ first three games was that a finisher and a source of more creativity in the middle of the pitch were two things Farke could not go without if his team were to compete in a meaningful way. But Piroe alone enhances the clout of a squad which, through a spate of exoduses and five arrivals, is developing a core with more domestic know-how. Ethan Ampadu is the only one of the club’s signings so far who has not played in the Championship before.

What Piroe represents is an obvious signing, a transfer smeared with common sense, and it could be said Leeds have not been open enough to deals of that nature over the past few years. Piroe is a strong and sharp finisher, evidently, but he is more than a poacher: tidy on the ball, suited to the sort of interplay Farke likes to see and a threat in terms of getting on the end of chances. He is genuinely prolific when it comes to his conversion rate — three shots a game for Swansea gives an example of how present he was in their attacks and how much of a threat he posed, in a side who were never particularly close to winning promotion.

Farke, to his credit, has made a good fist of selling a club who have looked under the cosh throughout the summer months. That Aarons turned tail for the Vitality Stadium did not change the fact that Farke had tempted him to the point of starting a medical and giving the move a chance. United’s manager has been cautious in promises to the club’s support about the potential of the season ahead but he has persuaded the players signed by Leeds that his project is worth their time; that a player like Piroe is better off here than hanging on for a move to the lower end of the Premier League in what is left of the window.

On the attacking front, Piroe’s accuracy in front of goal and his volume of shots is a lot for defences to contend with. He exceeded his expected goals calculation in his two full seasons with Swansea, by a wide margin of 9.1 first time around. In statistical terms, that ranked him as the Championship’s most clinical finisher in 2021-22.

His tally of 38 non-penalty goals is the best of any player who has featured in the Championship during both of the past two years and nine finishes from outside the box show variety in his positioning and shooting. What Leeds should not expect too much of is headed efforts, from a player who has only scored one in their league.

In the world of xG, Piroe scores highly where Bamford, as a comparison, has tended to struggle.

In Bamford’s five campaigns with Leeds, he has failed to match or exceed his xG once. There is also statistical evidence which indicates that Piroe’s build-up work and influence in constructing attacks is the stronger of the pair. His high link-up play rating (set out below, via smarterscout) suggests a tendency to drop close to midfield and use sideways passes to help his team find a way through low blocks.

His ball retention is impressive and, if it stays that way, will be crucial in Farke succeeding in making Leeds play as he intends. Swansea were possession-based under Martin so it is not surprising that with an average of 20 passes per 90 minutes, Piroe was in the top 10 per cent of Championship forwards. That will give Farke confidence that Piroe is more than happy with the ball at his feet.

What Piroe lacks is outstanding defensive talents and his low defensive intensity is likely to be challenged by Farke’s instructions to press hard. Whatever criticism can be aimed at Bamford, his work off the ball was key in helping Marcelo Bielsa’s team to knit together in the Championship. But Piroe is still on the right side of his professional peak and Farke can address any defensive deficiencies as the season goes on. What matters far more is the arrival of a proven goalscorer who comes to Leeds in good shape with immediate competitive games behind him.

A proven goalscorer, looking back, was exactly what Leeds required at the same stage of last season, in spite of their excessive confidence in the group of Bamford, Rodrigo and Joe Gelhardt. The penny dropped with the club late in the window, which explained the final-hours missive to Piroe, a stab in the dark which Swansea resolutely swatted back over the fence for six. This week’s bid was more methodical and more tactical, driven with the commitment of a club who knew it had to be done.

Leeds have been waiting for a marquee signing this summer, one which gets the juices flowing properly. Piroe is it.