Leeds United are continuing to focus on physicality in the transfer market as deals progress for Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach.
As Leeds United work to finalise a deal for Newcastle United's Sean Longstaff and continue their talks with Hoffenheim for Anton Stach the summer transfer profile is clear but one aspect of the plan is not. Not yet anyway.
The Whites are going for power. Physicality. Legs. Mobility. Height. Strength. The Premier League boasts some of the world's most athletic players, with pure pace and all the physical tools to make a newly-promoted team's matchday experience thoroughly miserable. Leeds are attempting to protect themselves from physical harm by putting together a squad that can at least be competitive in the air and on the ground in duels, then aggressive and quick when they get the chance to play forward.
They want to be solid at defending set-pieces and dangerous from corners and free-kicks at the other end. Jaka Bijol's ability to win first contact in the air will come in extremely handy. Sebastiaan Bornauw is another who can win more than his fair share of headers. Lukas Nmecha stands at over 6ft tall and adds to the aerial threat up top. Both Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk are highly adept at winning the ball in the air. And should a deal get over the line for 6ft 4ins Stach then Leeds will be blessed with an arsenal capable of turning set-pieces into a bombardment.
The question is who will take them? Joe Rothwell was last season's set-piece specialist and showcased his ability to whip in a wicked free-kick or corner. Of Leeds' 133 accurate corners, Rothwell was responsible for 71. Rothwell was on loan, however, and returned to Bournemouth before heading straight to Glasgow to join 49ers Enterprises' other club, Rangers. Manor Solomon took 53 corners and was accurate with about half of them. Dan James found a Leeds player with three of his 10, Largie Ramazani did so with three of his 11, Brenden Aaronson was accurate with seven of 16 and Isaac Schmidt took one singular accurate corner.
Then there was Ilia Gruev. The Bulgarian international, who famously waited until the 2023/24 play-off semi-final second leg to score his only goal of that season directly from a free-kick, took 68 corners last season. Twenty-two of those were deemed accurate by Whoscored.com.
Gruev has been a solid signing for Leeds. He puts in a huge shift, gets around the pitch to disrupt the opposition and passes it well from varying distances. He started last season as a first-choice starter alongside Ethan Ampadu and although a serious knee injury took him out of action for months he still ended the campaign with 20 starts to his name. Farke's trust in the midfielder was seen in the six consecutive starts he was given during the final run-in - what the manager calls the 'crunch-time period.' And with Rothwell gone, set-piece duty would likely now fall to Gruev. His likely involvement is what muddies the water, however.
Who can step up as Leeds United’s set-piece taker?
Ampadu is club captain and was routinely described by Farke as the club's 'most important' player last season. There should be no need for him to play at centre-back, not with Bijol and Bornauw joining Rodon and Struijk among the current options, but it is difficult to see a scenario where the skipper does not play. He is one of those who has always had an air of Premier League potential about him as Leeds have worked towards that destination. Longstaff would plainly be a top flight player. Stach, should Leeds get it over the line, would be coming to play. And Ao Tanaka, though physically overwhelmed in a couple of games towards the end of his first season in English football, has serious quality on the ball. They cannot all play in midfield at once and Gruev's name is not exactly right at the top when a natural pecking order is considered.
There is of course still room and a need for Leeds to sign attacking players. Should their search for a left winger happen to unearth a player who happens to take inviting in-swingers, or if they finally sign a number 10 who coincidentally has set-piece delivery in his locker, then the question will be answered. Looking across the squad and the players currently involved in pre-season training, the answer has to come from a new signing.
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Assembling a cast of giants in the opposition penalty box is all well and good but someone has to prime those weapons with the right delivery. Set-pieces have been identified as a key potential source of joy for Leeds next season if they are to stay up, so it stands to reason that a player yet to be signed will provide the necessary deliveries. Even if you have, as Arsenal did last season, a box of tricks, set-plays, routines and runs that would bamboozle defences and give big lads the opportunity to attack the ball, the ball has to arrive in exactly the right place with the right pace.
"What is important is the taker," said Pep Guardiola, once. "Put the ball in the positions where it can be dangerous. The secret of set pieces is about the taker. With a good taker, you have a chance. You can make movements to the near post or far post but it doesn't matter because the taker is the most important thing."
Leeds have and continue to gather players who will give them an aerial threat. What they need now is a taker.
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