Lukas Nmecha comes to the Premier League with a point to prove. The gap between 2018 and 2025 might be one of the longest between English top-flight appearances but this is the place where Nmecha wants to be.
The attacker lives a 90-minute drive away from Elland Road, having come through the ranks at Manchester City. He ended up with three senior appearances but, after loans at Preston North End, Middlesbrough and Andlerlecht, was deemed surplus to requirements in 2021.
He moved to Wolfsburg permanently, having had an initial loan spell there in the 2019/20 campaign, and that is where he met Josuha Guilavogui, who would help in convincing him to join Leeds United. Not that he may have needed much prodding anyway.
Rival interest has been confirmed but it’s unclear which teams were after him. His injury record will at the very least have meant Premier League competition was not en masse.
The 26-year-old has sustained at least one injury in each of the past four seasons and oftentimes multiple. He was limited to just four appearances in the 2023/24 season after two severe setbacks and to different body parts - knee and hamstring.
Last season was better but he still missed 16 matches through two injuries. His three goals in the campaign just gone all came against the same team across two meetings - Borussia Monchengladbach, ironically Daniel Farke’s former club.
Nmecha has already held several chats with the United boss and at least one was about his role in the side. Boardroom sources at Leeds have outlined how Farke is brutally honest with a player in regards to the role they will have should they join.
He will not sugarcoat it if a new signing will not be first choice or only a bench player initially. It would be a surprise if Nmecha lines up for Leeds all too often given his injury record and his consequent lack of game time in recent years.
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But that is not to diminish his worth, especially before he even steps on the grass. There are several points to make, one of which is that the true scope of Nmecha today is still largely unknown given his persistent setbacks.
Farke, after joking about them bloating timeline estimates, praised the medical staff last season for their work in getting players back on the pitch. Pascal Struijk, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev all returned from significant injuries either ahead of time or in the shortest initial timeframe outlined.
Patrick Bamford and his hamstring issue in the New Year, which kept him out until April, is perhaps the only exception. Max Wober’s need for a second round of surgery after the first failed to have the desired effect is hardly on the club’s medical staff.
The efficiency of the physios will be good news for Nmecha, whose game time will be managed carefully anyway. While questions hang over his robustness, his arrival does bolster the attacking department.
This is a player with 69 Bundesliga appearances, five Champions League outings and seven Germany caps, having already come through the English youth system. None of United’s other centre-forwards can boast as holding as wide-ranging experience.
Bamford may have Premier League minutes and a cap for England but has not played in Europe. Joel Piroe has never played in the English top tier. Neither has Mateo Joseph, who scored just three goals in the Championship last season.
Lukas Nmecha upon signing for Leeds United
Lukas Nmecha upon signing for Leeds United (Image: Malcolm Bryce/Leeds United FC via Getty Images)
Interestingly, Nmecha scored the same tally while on loan at Preston during the 2018/19 Championship season at age 21 too. But the new arrival is now at a more advanced stage in his career, having tallied three Bundesliga goals in 19 games and three starts last season.
Joseph played 39 Championship games last season and started 11. There are now four strikers on the books at Leeds, excluding Joe Gelhardt who is expected to leave this summer.
So someone has been relegated to fourth choice and someone will be left unhappy. Whether that is Bamford or Joseph is unclear. Bamford was selected to come on ahead of Joseph when he came back from injury, while Joseph has been linked with a move away.
But Bamford turns 32 in September and only has a year left on his deal having failed to score in 19 games he managed to feature in, none of them starts. And the Joseph, 10 years junior, has a contract until 2028.
With more attackers set to be signed, it's unfathomable to think that one of these two will not move on. As for Nmecha, he is a free hit who arrives for nothing and at the very least adds experience and expertise no other current attacker offers.
It’s a move that looks nifty but will only be judged as a success in the course of time. An initial two-year deal at the peak age of 26 is telling and it’s up to Nmecha to prove his point back in the Premier League.
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