Leeds United will lose a key player in the January transfer window

Leeds United were keen on Emi Buendia in the summer transfer window and Aston Villa’s pecking order should only embolden them to ask again

A quiet January is what Daniel Farke wants, but the Leeds United manager knows all too well that anything can happen during the madness of a transfer window. The German was asked directly if he could definitively rule out a marquee signing next month and he could not do that.

As has been the case since he took charge last year, Farke and Leeds will stay awake during the month and react to the possibilities which open up to them. History would suggest the month does play out as quietly as the 48-year-old desires, but if the right opportunity arises, they have to act.

When Angus Kinnear told The Square Ball podcast Emi Buendia was a realistic transfer target during the summer window, eyebrows were raised. The Argentine turns 28 on Christmas Day and has nothing left to prove in the Championship after two titles under Farke with Norwich City.

Why would he want to drop back into the second tier? Kinnear said Leeds had been given reason to believe, via various sources, Gustavo Hamer may be attainable at Sheffield United, especially during Bramall Lane’s ownership turmoil, but this notion was quickly squashed by Chris Wilder and co.

If similar noises and encouragement were reaching Elland Road for Buendia and James McAtee, another target mentioned by Kinnear, then it would explain why the chief executive included them on his shortlist. Kinnear said Aston Villa didn’t want to lose Buendia and the player did not want to return to the Championship.

Do 43 Premier League minutes since that Kinnear interview soften those stances? The playmaker has got off the bench in seven of Villa’s 16 league games, but with little time to ever make an impression or sharpen his condition.