Leeds United 3-2 Paderborn: Step by step — Square Ball 28/7/25

Facing forwards

Written by: Rob Conlon

First there was Pat Bamford. Then there was Mateo Joseph. But for the first time this summer, Leeds ended a friendly without news that a striker is heading out of the door. Which is good, because whether United sign Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz or not, both Joel Piroe and Lukas Nmecha continued their encouraging pre-seasons as Daniel Farke was left noting with his usual cautious optimism that Leeds’ plans are falling into place “step by step”.

Farke was referring to the transfer work being done by Leeds’ newly-appointed “front row” of CEO Robbie Evans, sporting director Adam Underwood and head of recruitment Alex Davies. The trio haven’t so much as been thrown in the deep end but left, as Farke joked, “to swim with the sharks on Premier League level.”

Goalkeeper Lucas Perri’s arrival from Lyon was confirmed after Leeds beat Paderborn, completing a solid foundation of defence and midfield, and speculation remains that a deal for Feyenoord’s tantalising winger Igor Paixao could be getting closer with Leeds still refusing to take their eye off a new striker in Muniz. “I think our work is not over yet,” Farke said. “We have to keep going. It’s not just the icing on the cake, there are still important improvements that we need to add to our squad.”

Paixao and Muniz would undoubtedly add some sparkle to the side and leave the fanbase sitting with pillows over their lap, but Leeds completed their not-so-secret training camp in Germany with Piroe and Nmecha scoring for successive games and reminding Farke they could be more than useful in the Premier League.

Piroe’s opener was everything we’ve come to expect and everything we want to see more of — Joe Rodon winning the ball high up the pitch and leaving Piroe’s quick feet to play a one-two with Anton Stach, followed by an ice-cold finish into the bottom corner. That’s the thing with Piroe: we know he can do it. He can control a football. He can turn a defender. He can link with teammates and finish better than anyone else in this Leeds squad. He can even run! But he can also struggle to do all of those things at any given time. It makes him all the more endearing when he succeeds and all the more frustrating when he looks like a poor imitation of Luciano Becchio. I have a sneaky feeling Piroe could surprise a few people in the Premier League, but I felt the same way about Helder Costa the last time we were promoted, so I’m not gonna get too excited as I check the odds on him to win the Golden Boot.

Piroe could have made it 2-0 before half-time, meeting Dan James’ cross to the back post with a cushioned volley, only to be foiled by Paderborn’s ‘keeper before making way for Nmecha for the second half. The more we see glimpses of Nmecha, the more Farke telling Pat Bamford he’s free to leave makes sense. Nobody made much of a fuss of Nmecha’s signing, but at just under 6’1” and almost as wide he fits right into Big Lads FC. He has the physicality and work rate of Bamford at his best alongside the injury history and patchy goal return of Bamford at his worst, but if he can just stay fit then he could be the bustling presence up front that Leeds have always benefited from having at the sharp end of the pitch. Nmecha had already toiled against a defender to force a save out of the goalie when he excellently held off another to bring down a chipped ball forward near the halfway line, turned, and won a free-kick having reached the byline. Jack Harrison crossed to Pascal Struijk at the back post, whose header into the ground was fumbled by the goalkeeper under pressure from Sam Byram and tapped in by Nmecha for a deserved goal.

In between United’s first and third, Wilf Gnonto collected a botched clearance towards the left wing, cut inside past a defender, and slapped his favourite shot into the near post from the edge of the box. Much like Piroe’s opener, it was classic Gnonto, reminiscent of his best displays in the Premier League. Can we just please play him more often on the left rather than the right, where he’s less effective?

Sure, Leeds conceded twice in circumstances that any Goals on Sunday pundit worth their salt would pick fault with, but I’m here to get excited, not worried. Paderborn had a decent campaign in Germany’s second tier last season, finishing fourth, just three points outside the play-offs, and are only a week away from beginning their latest campaign. At the base of their midfield was a promising teenage number 6, Luis Engelns, better known to you and me as Daniel Farke’s son, who was on the receiving end of a couple of crunching Ethan Ampadu tackles and admirably tried to score with an overhead kick, sharing a grin with his dad as he was subbed off in the second half.

Lacking any big transfer revelation from Farke after the game, his quip that he would “never, ever” sign his son because it would be “horrendous” for them both at least gave outlets an excuse for some clickbait. Leeds might be slowly building step by step before the proper stuff starts against Everton in a few weeks’ time, but I’m feeling ready to get all this out of the way and begin tomorrow if only we could.