Leeds United transfer silence, scary what-ifs, smoke, mirrors and flights - Graham Smyth's Verdict — YEP 3/2/25
By Graham Smyth
Leeds United’s ‘quiet window’ was actually next to silent
and it will either be vindicated by a very capable squad or become a stick to
beat 49ers Enterprises with.
There was more than a little expectation management in Leeds
United's 'expecting a quiet month' messaging when the January transfer window
came into sight. Club sources were saying it long before the window opened and
Daniel Farke soon repeated it and then reiterated it on record. But it wasn't
just to gently guide what Farke calls an 'emotional' fanbase through the month
without their hopes being cruelly raised and dashed. It was because Leeds went
into this window in good shape and came out of it in arguably even better
shape.
Top of the Championship, the league's leading goalscorers by
a mile, with the second best defensive record and the best goal difference.
Even one of those facts would be reason for optimism but all of them combined,
along with all the other key metric tables they top, is just cause for
confidence. Leeds beat Cardiff City 7-0 on Saturday, showing why even Chris
Wilder went ultra-defensive in his set-up for Sheffield United's Elland Road
visit. Every man and his dog in the Championship calls Leeds the best team or
treats them as such.
So major surgery was not required on Farke's squad this
month, not with how they're performing. Not on the evidence of what we've seen
from the division this season. And not when Pascal Struijk's injury turned out
to be a minor one.
But they did want to add. Farke's interest in a number 10
has never gone away. Even with Brenden Aaronson's durability, his goals and his
willingness to run miles for the cause, there has at times been a distinct lack
of magic in central attacking areas when compact defences have been well
organised. A number 10 with a lot of skill and some serious guile, someone a
bit like Emi Buendia would be perfect for such scenarios. So how about Buendia?
Well of course Leeds would have liked to do that one on loan but so too did the
team sitting second in the Bundesliga. Oddly enough, it was the team going for
a top tier title and indulging in European football of the highest level that
got that bit of business done.
Farke put the onus squarely on the recruitment team to find
other opportunities once his favourite flew to Germany. Explaining the process
to the local press he said that it was down to that department to come up with
options and then down to everyone who gets a say to come to an agreement. But
anyone coming to Leeds would have to tick three boxes - quality that improved
the squad, character that fit in with the squad and affordability. It would be
difficult, he said more than once, but he was very much open to the idea of
strengthening.
Farke could hardly be accused of greed in his desire to
bolster what he has, especially at number 10. The Leeds squad is packed with
quality - Saturday's bench could have read like a starting line-up in many of
the division's other stadiums - but it is small. And just because you have your
boot on the division's neck it does not mean you should show any mercy. This is
football, this is the Championship and this is Leeds United. The what-ifs are
almost always terrifying.
What if Aaronson, a starter in all of the last 28
Championship fixtures, was to break down? There are other options within the
squad worth exploring but none of them are natural, round pegs for the round
hole. Willy Gnonto, Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani would all bring an
element of the experimental in a part of the season when Leeds can ill afford
to just try things and hope. What's more, losing Solomon from the left flank
where he has become so deadly would be less than ideal, even if Ramazani has
looked so lively in his recent cameos.
At centre-back, Farke had another what-if because Struijk
sustained a hamstring injury and Max Wober has been plagued all season by
niggles and a knee that flares up seemingly after each and every run out. The
return of Struijk late on against Cardiff City was enough to assuage that
particular concern.
The what-ifs were sufficient in the striker department that
Leeds made an approach for Cameron Archer of Southampton. Patrick Bamford's
on-going hamstring problem, the latest in a sadly long list of injuries in
recent seasons, was right at the heart of that foray into the market. But it
proved unsuccessful, crashing into the rocks of the south coast side's
unwillingness to do a deal. Why they would feel the need to do Leeds any
favours is anyone's guess. Reports that Leeds then were in for Archer's team-mate
Adam Armstrong proved to be nothing more than that. Just talk. Smoke but no
fire.
At least that one made sense, though. Matt Targett? It
wasn't even smoke and mirrors. Just bizarre and easily-quashed nonsense. A
left-back was the last thing Leeds needed in this window, not with Junior Firpo
back fit and firing in crosses like he did against Cardiff City. Not with Sam
Byram coping with more football than anyone expected this season. Or with Isaac
Schmidt waiting in the wings.
A further what-if can be found away from Elland Road, where
promotion rivals got busy in the window. Sheffield United were active,
Sunderland and Burnley too. That business could spur one or more of those sides
on to a run of form that threatens or even eclipses what Leeds themselves do.
On the other hand, the lack of depth Chris Wilder has had to deal with this
season meant they needed a far more hectic month than Leeds did and there is no
way for the Whites to control what happens elsewhere. Signing players because
other clubs have signed players is not the kind of reactive approach you would
expect from Farke and co. They may well have to respond to what others did
though, if rivals have indeed strengthened in ways that can threaten Leeds'
place in the top two. With the window closed the only response can come from
the players already at Farke's disposal.
And close it has. The deadline came and went. There was, of
course, countless spurious reports of players close to an Elland Road move, a
flight tracked from Bournemouth and someone even 'saw' Farke on a flight to
Geneva the day before the Cardiff game when he was actually taking training.
The squad stayed exactly as it was. And so too will the what-ifs until Leeds
win enough games to prove them nothing more than pessimistic theories.
A lack of action in this window might well be entirely
vindicated by a squad that lasts the course and pairs their obvious
capabilities with a physical withstanding of the remaining workload. Stay
injury free and there is no obvious reason why Leeds' trajectory should change.
Should the what-ifs come into play and prove in any way costly, then Leeds
decision makers will have loaded the bullets for their critics. The inevitable
accusations of arrogance, complacency or naivety will be difficult to fend off
and even harder to forgive.
There is no real credit to be had for leaving the window
without weakening Farke's hand. Leeds rejected a bid for Mateo Joseph over the
weekend, a decent bid at that, but it would have been insanity to accept any
amount of money if it left the squad even lighter at number 9. Withstanding
whatever pressure might have come from top flight clubs with deep pockets was
the bare minimum expectation for 49ers Enterprises in this window. The club is
so well positioned when it comes to promotion that only financial blindness,
not even short-sightedness, would have allowed them to consider bringing in
£10m or so if it jeopardised the Premier League riches that await this summer.
The recruitment that took place in the summer of 2024
already stands Leeds' transfer department in good stead. Joe Rodon was sensible
business. So too was Jayden Bogle. The same can be said for Joe Rothwell and
Solomon. Ao Tanaka was sensational business. What those players do between now
and May will allow an even more conclusive judgement on Leeds' ability to
function in the transfer market. If it proves to be enough then the appropriate
plaudits will be given and approval ratings will soar among fans. There will be
a healthy measure of delayed gratification having saved in January cash that
can be added to the Premier League survival pot. Levels of trust in the
ownership will duly rise a little more. If the what-ifs come to life however,
January will become a stick with which the club's hierarchy are brutally
beaten. Such is life in football.
January was, as Leeds predicted all along, a quiet month.
Silent, almost. What comes next will be anything but. Football is about to do
all the talking once again.