Leeds’ January transfer window: Right-back reshuffle ends with Roberts — The Athletic 2/2/24

By Phil Hay

Leeds United’s interest in Fabio Carvalho, the Liverpool midfielder who sought a new home in January, was a good example of the challenges thrown up by this season’s winter transfer window for those at Elland Road.

Carvalho did not fall into Leeds’ must-have bracket, but the 21-year-old was available on loan after an early return from what was supposed to be a season in the Bundesliga and Champions League with RB Leipzig and is easily good enough for any club in the Championship.

Liverpool, for their part, had only one real demand: that wherever Carvalho went, he actually played games. Minutes were imperative, after just one league start during his five months in Germany. Leeds could not pretend that he would easily slide in front of Georginio Rutter in their pecking order.

But Hull City promised that Carvalho would be used religiously if he joined their push for a Championship play-offs place. And so a deal to loan him to Hull was done.

That process spoke volumes about the state of play as Leeds entered January and the obstacles they encountered in trying to reinforce a squad that was not crying out for vast improvement.

From the start of last month, there was only so much they could offer, competitively and financially, and there was something in manager Daniel Farke’s comments, his own reflections on the complexities of the market, which suggested that the deadline last night (Thursday) could pass with the club drawing a blank.

Farke predicted that the winter window would be “pretty chilled” but that was not the same as saying it should be entirely silent. There will be more than a little relief today that when the crunch came, Leeds found a way to wrap up the signing of Wales international full-back Connor Roberts from Burnley of the Premier League.

With the deadline gone, Farke leaves the winter window with a slightly smaller squad than he entered it, owing to the departures of Djed Spence and Luke Ayling. Ian Poveda joined Sheffield Wednesday permanently last night, a few months before the expiry of his contract, though despite never being surplus under Farke, he did not kick much of a ball for him either. Other players have moved on too but Darko Gyabi, Leo Hjelde and Lewis Bate were so far removed from the first team that they might as well have been on loan at Plymouth Argyle.

When Farke started rebuilding Leeds’ relegated squad last summer, he looked for two specialist options in each position and before Christmas, they were not far off. But before Roberts’ late arrival, he had no recognised right-back, only a choice of hybrids between Archie Gray and Jamie Shackleton.

Gray’s form from here could still be key but Roberts, a title winner in this division with Burnley last season and another Welshman to add to the club’s existing three, offers depth and, at 28 years old, ample amounts of know-how in the area where Leeds most need it.

Roberts did not grow up as a Leeds fan but speaking after finalising his loan last night, he told The Athletic that it had always been a club he had liked the idea of joining — and said he hoped his spiky nature on the pitch would appeal to the crowd in equal measure.

“I couldn’t put my exact finger on it but some of you might remember the first time I ever played here was for Middlesbrough,” he said. “It was Garry Monk’s first game back here (in 2017), my league debut in the Championship. I started and I just thought ‘wow, this is brilliant’.

“If you achieve at big clubs like this, it’s even more special because of the size of the club and the amount of supporters they have. A lot of people say ‘oh, I was a Leeds fan, I’d love to play for Leeds.’ I wasn’t a Leeds fan, don’t get me wrong, but from when I started playing football, I experienced Elland Road and what Leeds was about.

“I can honestly say that I’ve said to a lot of players ‘I’d love to play for Leeds’ and a lot of them have said ‘you probably are a Leeds player as well’ because I like getting in a scrap.”

If one position was going to take precedence at Elland Road, right-back had to be it; unexpectedly so, since the exits of Spence and Ayling were not part of any grand plan.

Farke grew tired of Spence’s demeanour and performance levels, and issues around punctuality were underlined by the player arriving late for the meeting where he was told he would be going back early to parent club Tottenham Hotspur. Ayling grew tired of being asked to stick around without kicking a ball meaningfully and asked to leave on loan for fellow Championship side Middlesbrough a week later.

From being relatively well covered, the right side of Leeds’ defence was a sudden priority.

Certain targets whom they rated highly, Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams for one, were simply not on the market. They took a look at Ben Johnson, with his contract running down rapidly, but West Ham want the 24-year-old to sign a new deal and had knocked back an enquiry from Crystal Palace about a permanent transfer earlier this week.

Farke was keen on Roberts from the get-go but that possibility was trapped in the ether until Burnley lined up a replacement, with the signing of right-back Lorenz Assignon from France’s Rennes confirmed yesterday. Fresh talks with Leeds about Roberts leaving Turf Moor on loan led to a phone call between Farke and the player. Following their conversation, Roberts began the short journey across the Pennines for a medical around lunchtime.

Earlier in the window, Leeds believed they were close to the signing of Japan international right-back Daiki Hashioka and had begun drawing up paperwork, only to swerve away from the 24-year-old after he picked up an ankle injury playing for Belgian side Sint-Truiden. The injury was minor but Leeds suspected there was a risk of a recurrence, clearing the way for Luton Town to take him for just under £2million ($2.5m).

Farke wanted players who he could count on to be available immediately and reliably; the gamble being that in the aftermath of the Hashioka approach, a different deal would fall into place. It has also been the case since day one of his tenure that the German exerts authority over transfers, dictating the direction of Leeds’ recruitment. He has shown more than once a penchant for players he worked with previously, individuals he knows he can trust.

From a financial standpoint, Leeds were not in a position to spend substantial amounts of money. They are managing the Championship’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and it is not much of a secret that if promotion eludes them this season, they will have to control PSR calculations by entertaining offers for some of their existing players.

Leeds cut their wage bill substantially last summer after relegation but unlike Leicester City and Southampton, the two other sides who came down from the Premier League, they pulled in only small amounts in transfer fees.

The Championship as a whole was restrained, with loans unsurprisingly prevalent.

With 48 hours of the window to go, seven of the division’s 24 clubs were still to do any incoming deals but Ipswich Town and Southampton, the teams in direct competition with Leeds for the second automatic promotion place with Leicester 10 points clear, made significant moves. Southampton’s capture of Wales midfielder David Brooks on loan from top-flight neighbours Bournemouth was one of the month’s more eye-catching signings.

“I’ve not thought much about that,” Farke insisted on Wednesday. “If clubs do incomings or outgoings, it doesn’t affect what we want to do. We’re just doing business that’s sensible for Leeds United. It’s not like we feel forced because an opponent signs two or three players and we’re panicking to show we’re ambitious and do something. You do things if you’re 100 per cent convinced.”

Every remark like that, though, came with the caveat that defensive cover would be welcomed.

One area where Leeds succeeded in a big way was in avoiding any truly damaging departures.

Farke told the club that their main task for January was to prevent any cherry-picking, which they did. In the further reaches of the squad, interest developed in club captain Liam Cooper, including an in-division approach from Blackburn Rovers last week, but in contrast to Ayling, Leeds made it clear to Cooper that they expected him to see out the last six months of his contract. Cooper, 32, does not anticipate an extension but will see his 10th season at Elland Road through to the end.

When Charlie Cresswell asked to leave to get more minutes elsewhere, Leeds met him in the middle by telling him that they would sell him for a certain price — no less than £4million — but not countenance loan approaches from prominent Championship sides, especially the one from Ipswich. So the 21-year-old stays too, though very much in backup mode.

The attention Leeds paid to Ben Godfrey at Everton and, on deadline day, Harry Souttar of Leicester implied that Farke wanted more options at centre-back, but Cresswell’s long-term future is a subject for another day.

But backup, in truth, was all that any arriving player was ever guaranteed to be: a reinforcement for a team who will go second for at least 19 hours if they win at Bristol City tonight (Friday).

There is no denying that Leeds are in very good shape and no basis to suggest that Farke’s line-up required drastic surgery but quiet Januarys always provoke paranoia within the club’s fanbase. There is a fear Leeds will rue their inactivity in the months to come, and it is not difficult to find examples of seasons where the winter window has cost the club before.

A right-back was imperative. Roberts gave Farke his solution, and a very proven one at that.

The fight is on now to show that Leeds have what they need to get over the line and back into the Premier League.