One of the issues facing Leeds United in the summer transfer window might not actually be an issue at all, but another one is becoming more real by the day.
When, for the second time in five days, a player on Leeds United's list of summer transfer targets got himself a Premier League deal but at Sunderland, the Whites began to hear grumbles from the fanbase. Habib Diarra, a player for whom Leeds bid £22m, was followed to Sunderland by Noah Sadiki, a player Leeds liked the look of. Any situation in which a player considered a potential target ends up in the shirt of a direct rival carries a certain look about it but given Leeds did not value Diarra at the £30m Sunderland were happy to pay and given they didn't bid for the Black Cats' £17m man Sadiki, it was just about looks.
Before anyone at the Stadium of Light puts on the EDM music, Diarra and Sadiki must first prove that they are not only good players but exactly the right players for Sunderland. Similarly, no one at Leeds can decry this bit of transfer business until the midfielder or midfielders they sign prove to be exactly what the Whites needed. Both clubs could end up right. Equally they could both end up sharing a rueful look across directors lounge drinks, back in the Championship.
All of this, right now, is pure conjecture. It's pure optics. Not a real, tangible problem or obstacle. Not if Leeds go and get the right players for their own midfield, at the right price. In the 10 days since Sadiki was unveiled at the Stadium of Light, Leeds have not signed a midfielder of their own. They got Gabriel Gudmundsson of Lille, an attacking left-back, and they re-signed Sam Byram as full-back cover. But no midfielders. No goalkeeper. No wingers or strikers either. The grumbles, therefore, are getting louder and echoing in the void left by an absence of confirmed deals.
Leeds Stach and Longstaff hunts
But still, with five weeks remaining between now and the first game against Everton, the current and understandable disgruntlement among supporters is just noise that can be expected to quieten once the signings begin to arrive. Like optics and narratives, noise changes with reality. Should they land Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff - both of whom continue to be seen as viable transfer targets and were always right up at the top of the midfield shortlist - then Leeds' reality will leave little room for concerns over an ability to get deals done. Their reality would be a midfield that had been bolstered, fortified and diversified. Landing a publicly-known target or two would be an ideal fix because when news of transfer interest leaks then you are judged, fairly or not, on whether or not a completed deal follows.
This is where Leeds do have a bit more of a problem because, against their best efforts and an ethos of working in silence, a number of names have slipped through the net this summer. The YEP first reported Lukas Nmecha's imminent arrival on the very day that he signed but their interest in several others has leaked well before deals have been done or in the cases of Diarra and Sadiki not been done. It was July 1 when the YEP reported Leeds' admiration for Stach and the club's belief that signing him would be a more drawn-out affair. And so it has proven. Leeds' position is that they will not be pulled into a running commentary on transfer deals, so they are tight lipped on their current business, but the YEP understands from other sources that the public nature of the Whites' pursuit of Stach has not been helpful for the smoothest of negotiating processes with Hoffenheim. Hope remains though. Similarly, they have not abandoned their belief that a deal can be struck with Fulham for Rodrigo Muniz.
Remaining at the hopeful stage for priority targets at this stage is not a disaster. Not if the hopes are ultimately rewarded with done deals. Things can change very quickly. A no can become a yes in the length of time it takes to say the word and then it can be medicals and photos and signed bits of paper within days if not hours. But later this week Leeds will fly to Stockholm to face Manchester United in their first pre-season friendly. On Sunday they transfer to Germany for this summer's training camp, where the foundations of a survival bid will begin to be put into place. There is no doubt that Daniel Farke will see it as a sub-optimal situation should he not get his hands on a few more of his 2025/26 starters before Leeds are back in England for their final Premier League preparations. There is no doubt that the board and the recruitment team want to get their business done as quickly as possible. Because a very real problem, far more pertinent than optics or the public nature of some of Leeds' intended business, is that a bad start can kill a survival bid in the Premier League.
Time is still on Leeds' side, yet with every day that passes that statement loses a little more of its truth. In just two weeks Leeds will have completed their training camp and only three weeks will exist between them and competitive football. That does not give a raft of new signings a great deal of time to bed in, gel and form a cohesive unit with the parts of Farke's team that are already in place. It will not give Farke a great deal of time to turn a new-look squad into a Premier League ready outfit, not when an adapted version of his 2023-2025 Leeds United playing style is required.
Leeds keeper transfer consensus
As it stands, beyond the aforementioned necessary midfield additions, Farke needs a goalkeeper. The YEP understands that there has been less of the transfer 'tension' that ex-CEO Angus Kinnear admitted to after the 2024 summer window but it has taken longer to reach a consensus and decision on the keeper than it has with other positions. The need to get it right is so vital that Leeds are right to try and be absolutely sure, and of all the players coming to Elland Road this summer the keeper is probably the one with the least tactical adjustments to make. Catching and saving the ball will be his priority and his positioning will not be so dependent on tactics or formations as other new faces. It would be nice, however, for the new stopper to get the chance to develop an understanding with his back line and start to build that essential level of trust well in advance of the season.
Farke needs a starting striker, too. He needs a left winger and a 10. Even if Leeds are considering employing a forward-thinking 8 instead of an out-and-out creator, the latter would be handy to have for situations that call for such a player. It has always felt likely that Leeds would turn to that position later in the window, after adding the physicality and athleticism that will be necessary to compete in the Premier League and perhaps that has contributed a little to the chagrin of fans because, with the greatest of respect to centre-backs, most regard the sexiest signings to be the ones who make and score the goals. Those players who generally take up the biggest chunk of the budget.
Leeds' Profitability and Sustainability position is worth a mention in any discussion of their transfer business and strategy, because it plainly is a factor. They're yet to make a significant sale too. It is one reason why their activity thus far cannot be compared on a like-for-like basis with Sunderland, for example. And it remains a fact that the respective windows of the newly-promoted clubs should only be judged once squads are fully assembled and well underway in their survival bids. It also remains a fact that for Leeds there is still much work to be done. The work that Paraag Marathe said had been completed long before promotion was secured is all well and good but it now must come to fruition and result in a Premier League squad. There is no panic, there is however a need for urgency. There is still plenty of time and the clock is always ticking but it's starting to tick a little louder.
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