When Leeds United must register Ao Tanaka for £3.5m midfielder to face Hull City amid Daniel Farke stance — YEP 29/8/24
By Kyle Newbould
Leeds United face a race against time for their incoming
signing to be available for Saturday.
Leeds United look set for a busy end to the transfer window
and hope to soon confirm Ao Tanaka’s arrival from Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Tanaka flew over to the UK on Thursday morning with medical
tests booked in and hope a deal can be wrapped up before close of play today.
Leeds agreed a £3.5million deal with Dusseldorf for the 27-cap Japan
international, with Daniel Farke set to land a long-term target of his and fill
a major gap in his current squad.
There is still plenty to do before Tanaka’s arrival is
confirmed but club chiefs hope to conclude the transfer today, leading to
questions over when the 25-year-old will make his debut. Leeds host Hull City
at Elland Road on Saturday in another massive Championship clash, and the new
signing could be involved if things are wrapped up quickly.
According to the EFL handbook: “A Player will only be
eligible to play in a match organised by The League if the appropriate forms
for his registration or the transfer of his registration (including, for the
avoidance of doubt, Temporary Loan Transfers) are submitted (in such manner as
the League shall specify from time to time) to and received by The League by
12.00 noon on the day prior to the date of such match and confirmed by the
League to be in order.”
In short, Tanaka will be available if the EFL approve his
paperwork before 12pm on Friday, allowing plenty of time in theory, given there
is realistic hope of his arrival being announced today. Whether the midfielder
actually features is another matter altogether, however, with Farke known to be
against dropping new signings in so quickly.
The Leeds boss will be keen to see Tanaka in action among
his new teammates before handing him a debut, and so the new arrival will need
to be involved in Friday’s training session if he is to feature come Saturday.
And even then, it could be that Farke sticks with what he’s already got, given
the strong performance in last week's 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday.
Tanaka’s fitness is in no doubt, with the midfielder playing
every minute of Fortuna Dusseldorf’s 2.Bundesliga campaign so far, equating to
three games. He was reportedly absent from training on Wednesday, although that
was thought to be a club decision to protect him ahead of a possible move to
West Yorkshire.
Those attending Elland Road on Saturday afternoon - a rare
3pm kick-off - will likely see a debutant or two anyway, with recent signings
on course for their first taste of action in a Leeds shirt. £10million winger
Largie Ramazani arrived a little too late to feature at Hillsborough but
watched on from the stands and has since trained with his new teammates all
week.
Manor Solomon’s season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur was
finally confirmed on Tuesday, and the Israeli international has been involved
in training since, with hope he can enjoy an injury-free campaign at Elland
Road. It remains to be seen whether Farke will start either or wait to
introduce them from the bench, with all four attackers looking sharp against
Wednesday last week.