Bring me a decadently gifted playmaker — Square Ball 24/6/26

The age of opulence

Written by: Rob Conlon

Having been warned that signings would likely have to wait until after the World Cup, the cogs of Leeds United’s summer transfer window have slowly started whirring in the last week. But enough about Alex Cairns agreeing a new contract. Discussions continue with Southampton after a £20m bid was rejected for Shea Charles. Harry Wilson is due to join on a free transfer and complete his Dan James arc following the collapse of a move on deadline day last year. And most eye-catchingly of all, another free agent, Julian Brandt, has emerged as Leeds’ most ambitious target so far.

In The Athletic’s report on Leeds’ interest in Brandt, their German football writer Seb Stafford-Bloor urged caution. Form and fitness issues have often prevented Brandt from reaching the levels of superstar consistency expected from him when he joined Borussia Dortmund from Bayer Leverkusen for €25m in 2019. Two years earlier, Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him for Liverpool, only for Brandt to turn into the Pete Best of the story as the club bought Mo Salah instead. As Stafford-Bloor wrote about the attacker who recently played his 300th game for Dortmund and celebrated his 30th birthday last month:

Brandt has needed a move for some time. His Dortmund career was not without its high points, but a change of scenery has been necessary for a few years now, with the suspicion that he had gone stale in his surroundings; it was no surprise that his contract was not renewed.

But one phrase stuck in my head that made me happy to ignore questioning the wisdom of lavishing what would no doubt be a lucrative contract on a notoriously flaky footballer who is now the wrong side of 30:

He’s still a decadently gifted playmaker…

A decadently gifted playmaker, you say? I’m in!

For all I enjoyed the robust, resolute qualities that Leeds rediscovered to salvage their season and stave off relegation, what’s the point of being in the Premier League if you can’t indulge in a touch of decadence? For all the hard graft of Brenden Aaronson has served Daniel Farke well, Farke has been simultaneously publicly begging for a playmaker since Georgi Rutter was sold two years ago — and Brandt is the type of player this squad desperately lacks, a 6ft 1in slab of deft touches and precisely weighted passes.

In his prolonged farewell from Dortmund, the club posted separate compilations of his goals and assists in a yellow shirt. It’s striking in the latter that by his second assist he succeeds in the situation we have seen Aaronson fail so many times, turning into space on a counter-attack and driving forward before picking the right pass at the right time for the right teammate to score. What Aaronson makes look so complicated, Brandt makes look so simple.

What’s also striking is the constantly revolving cast of characters surrounding Brandt over the course of his Dortmund career, from Marco Reus and Erling Haaland, through Jude Bellingham and Sebastien Haller, to the current crop of Felix Nmecha and Serhou Guirassy, which might go some way to explaining why consistency has been hard to find — not to mention the revolving cast of managers in the dugout.

For all the optimism surrounding the solid foundations at Leeds, the club is in an awkward position next season. Despite Farke stressing his ambition to build on the 14th-place finish of 2025/26, Paraag Marathe has preached caution. Establishing Leeds in the Premier League is a three-season job, according to the suits, whose pitch to investors last year stated the aim for the following two campaigns is to be slightly worse: back to back finishes of 15th. Given the three teams who have won promotion in comparison to the high points total required to stay up that befell West Ham, Leeds could conceivably have a worse season in 26/27 yet avoid relegation more comfortably.

So what made Brandt so frustrating at Dortmund might be what makes him so alluring for Leeds. If Farke is to stave off the usual recriminations, we’re going to need some fun on the pitch that can be provided by a mercurial, one match-winning piece of magic every five games, infuriating playmaker. As Brandt’s former boss at Dortmund once said: “He’s a player who can really rouse up the stadium with a backheel.” It might not seem like much but, as Noah Okafor can attest, it only takes a handful of good games for us to fall in love.

Yet despite all that, I’m still not getting my hopes up about Brandt. After all, it was only in March that he was being linked with Arsenal, Barcelona and Aston Villa. Marathe has already spoken about the likelihood Leeds will go for targets who ultimately land higher up the food chain, a la Igor Paxaio. It doesn’t need to be Brandt; just someone like him. Someone with decadence who looks good in a yellow shirt and likes hanging out with one of the Nmecha brothers. Someone who fits the description Brandt once used when discussing the fun he had playing for Borussia Dortmund at his most opulent best:

“I know it won’t win us any games, but we’re a cool bunch of guys.”