Leeds could land “ridiculous” £5m star who’d be a dream signing for Tanaka

Leeds United were left frustrated at the weekend after their 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park pushed out them outside of the automatic promotion places.

The Whites went into the gameweek in first place but Sheffield United’s 1-0 win over Sunderland on Friday meant that they travelled to Lancashire in second.

A win would have moved them back to the top of the table but, instead, a penalty from Todd Cantwell was enough to seal all three points for the home side.

Burnley’s win later that day then meant that the West Yorkshire outfit ended the weekend in third place, outside of the top two and back inside the play-off places.

Daniel Farke will be hoping that his side can avoid the play-offs this time around, after losing to Southampton in the final last season, and the German head coach could use the January transfer window next month to bolster his squad.

Adding an attacking threat from a midfield position could be one of the items on his agenda, as the Whites have struggled to provide much in the way of quality from that area of the pitch.

Leeds United’s attacking contributions from midfield

In the 2024/25 campaign, Ao Tanaka, Joe Rothwell, Ethan Ampadu, and Ilia Gruev have combined for zero goals and one assist in the Championship, with Rothwell providing it.

This shows that Farke does not have a regular source of goals or creativity from his options in the middle of the park, which has hindered the team when the attacking players have not been at their best.

That was also an issue for the German boss during the 2023/24 season, as the likes of Ampadu, Gruev, Archie Gray, despite playing at right-back as well, and Glen Kamara all failed to offer much in the final third.