Angus Kinnear reveals Leeds United transfer tension, Buendia attempt and Hamer bid status after 'B+' window — YEP 12/9/24

By Graham Smyth

Leeds United's squad is strong enough for promotion after a 'B+' graded window, despite unsuccessful attempts to sign Emi Buendia and Gustavo Hamer.

That's the view of CEO Angus Kinnear, who sat down for his annual appearance on The Square Ball podcast to discuss the summer transfer business, high profile sales, Daniel Farke's recent comments about the lack of traditional number 10 and stadium redevelopment plans.

Kinnear's belief is that Leeds emerged from a window that saw the departure of three key players in Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter, with a squad that still boasts one of the highest values in Championship history and has one of the top two wage bills in the division.

"We certainly think the squad is strong enough for promotion," he said. "I think we have, if you look at the value of the squad, I think it's probably one of the highest valued squads in the history of the Championship. I think it's probably the first or second highest wage bill in the Championships. I don't think there's been any lack of commitment in terms of trying to make the squad as strong as possible. And everybody's aligned. The most important thing for everybody, for the owners, for the management, for Daniel and for the players is to get promoted. But we don't want to underestimate this league. Last year nobody saw the threat of the threat of Ipswich. This season I think on paper the league perhaps doesn't look quite as strong, but then you see Sunderland's start, and I'm sure Burnley will be strong and I'm sure Rob Edwards will pull things together at Luton, and they'll be strong as well. So it'll be a very competitive league, and the points total to go up will probably not be dissimilar from what it's been every year of the over the past 20 years."

Speaking after the win over Hull, Farke said Leeds could not be viewed as the 'big favourites' in the division because while they had signed 'young, interesting' players in the final days of the transfer window, they did not have proven quality in the Championship. His comments also more than hinted at a level of frustration at the club's inability to sign a central attacker who could prove the difference in games against teams who park the bus. Kinnear admitted that there was tension over the course of the summer window. But that tension is always there he says, and Farke retains his full backing as the right manager for Leeds' current situation.

"I think Daniel is incredibly collaborative," he said. "We're very lucky to have him as a manager. He's been really, really balanced. And not only do you see the results you get, you see how he works at Thorp Arch, how he works with the players. And I think we've got an exceptionally talented manager, which is why he's proven to be one of the best at this level. I think he's exactly the right manager for where Leeds United are now.

"In recruitment discussions there's always tension, and there should be tension, and I think it's healthy. There is tension between the data team and the scouting team and the coaching staff and the manager and the ownership. But I think we had really good, constructive dialogue with Daniel. There are no players that everybody wasn't fully aligned on before we secured them. The process is much more collaborative than it has been historically. So everybody has a say. But Daniel and the recruitment team knew that the board supported us pretty much unconditionally in terms of the players that we targeted and the players that were available to us. I probably give us a B+ if I was to grade the window in terms of what we wanted to do."

Kinnear revealed that Joe Rodon, signed for £10m from Tottenham Hotspur, was so keen to remain at the club that during his loan spell last season he insisted on taking part in the photoshoots for this season's kit. That desire to be at Leeds was a theme, Kinnear said, in their recruitment. He also backed Jayden Bogle to perform 'at or above' the level of Gray at right-back and described wing loanee Manor Solomon as a player with the ability to 'really dominate' the Championship.

But where Leeds' recruitment efforts came in for most criticism was regarding a pursuit of Sheffield United's Hamer, one they abandoned after an initial bid was rejected by the Blades. Kinnear revealed they had also made an attempt to reunite Farke with Buendia, who was so successful for the German at Norwich City, but neither Aston Villa nor the attacker himself were keen.

"The one missing piece of the jigsaw, which Daniel was very fair to identify, was ideally to give the window an A+ grade, we'd have secured a number 10," said Kinnear. "Those number 10s are, as Daniel did point out in his interview, really hard to find. If you look at great number 10s in the Championship across the last few seasons, you've probably got Emi Buendia at Norwich and Pablo Hernandez, but there's not many others. It's a very hard position to recruit, very hard position where you get goals and assists and a physical presence, and the players that we looked available to us we didn't think were at the standard.

"My sort of interpretation of Daniel's statement from a club perspective is, as a club, and I mean everybody at the club, we couldn't identify an attainable number 10 who was going to make it stronger than we are now. And we have some very talented, creative players. You've seen that Willy [Gnonto] can play at number 10. And I know Brenden [Aaronson] is struggling from a fan perspective because of his decision to go on loan, but I think if we signed Brenden Aaronson this season, this summer, even at half the price we actually signed him for in the Premier League, everybody would think that was a very, very credible replacement at number 10 at Championship level.

"I can talk specifically about two examples. So two players that we thought would fit the bill and would be significantly better than who we have currently. And bear in mind, we're looking at replacing the £40m player [Rutter], which is obviously going to be challenging at Championship level. Emi Buendia was on our list, and very clearly from Aston Villa wasn't going to be released, and the player didn't want to come back down to Championship level. He felt he'd served his time at Championship level. And then Gustavo Hamer, who we've had an interest in before, before he went to Sheffield United, was another player who we felt would have significantly improve the team."

Sheffield United being mid-takeover made it more complicated, according to Kinnear, to go about that particular bit of business in the usual manner but it quickly became apparent it was a dead end after an initial glimmer of hope.

"The way that transfer worked is we all assumed that there was no chance that Sheffield United would sell their star player to a promotion rival based on the prize and the size of of what promotion is worth," he said. "So if they send them to Leeds United, and we go up by one point, they don't, they've cost themselves over £100m in TV revenue. However, we were given some light. And this is where the market works, through agents, through contacts, that they might be open to an offer.

"Sheffield United are a difficult club to deal with at the moment because they're in an ownership transition, so there's no one there, there's no friendly face you can ring up and try and get a sense of whether the player's for sale or not. So the only way to provoke the conversation was to make an offer, and we made an offer, which we think was at a fair level, and they came back very clearly and said he was not for sale in this window to anybody, and he certainly wouldn't be on sale to Leeds United. And there was no price that could pull him away. And once you get that kind of feedback, and you believe in that kind of feedback, then you have to move on. So, you know, very simply, Hamer wasn't available for Leeds United in this window."