Leeds United are pressing on in their pursuit to sign Anton Stach from Hoffenheim this week, with Premier League rivals also chasing defensive midfield additions too.
The Whites have seen their quiet period in July emphatically quashed this week with Sean Longstaff’s arrival at the club now imminent after an agreement with Newcastle United.
And like London buses, the Magpie midfielder could be joined by another priority target in the middle of the park.
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Leeds United agree personal terms with Anton Stach as Hoffenheim talks continue
Following the club finally striking a deal with Newcastle to sign Longstaff for a fee “in excess of £12million”, Leeds’ attention now looks to be turning to Anton Stach of Hoffenheim.
The towering midfielder has been a target for some time at Elland Road, and Sky Sports’ Florian Plettenberg reported this morning that Leeds have actually agreed personal terms with the midfielder.
(REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)
In gaining permission to discuss terms with the player, it strongly suggests that his club are willing to sell, as their asking price appears to be set in the region of €20million (just over £17million).
Leeds’ efforts to sign the player might have to accelerate very soon, with the midfielder also attracting interest from other clubs, as mentioned by Plettenberg.
Compared: Leeds United’s top target Anton Stach vs ambitious Sunderland plot for Granit Xhaka
Defensive midfield has been a core focus of clubs in the Premier League this week, with Leeds’ interest in Stach coming alongside Brentford signing Jordan Henderson on a two-year deal, while Sunderland are plotting a hugely ambitious move for Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka.
(REUTERS/Cathrin Mueller)
The former Arsenal man was integral to Leverkusen’s unbeaten Bundesliga title in 23/24, and could form part of the Black Cats’ survival bid if Regis Le Bris can convince him of a move over heading to Saudi Arabia.
Both players would represent a drastic improvement in quality at the base of each midfield for Leeds and Sunderland, but how do they compare?
Stach was firmly in the thick of a relegation battle with Hoffenheim, while Xhaka’s side qualified for the Champions League in Xabi Alonso’s final campaign there, and the data charts represent players of differing roles as a result:
Data via DataMB, based on percentiles in ‘top seven leagues’
As underlined by the data, Leeds are targeting a player very much in keeping with the squad they’re trying to build, raising the physical quality of the squad with players that make Farke’s side much harder to play against for 90 minutes.
Stach’s numbers depict a ball-winning monster as well as someone who covers a lot of ground throughout a match, both in breaking up play and carrying the ball.
Compared to Xhaka, who was always seen during his time at Arsenal as someone not afraid to get his hands dirty, but has since become more of a deep-lying playmaker at Leverkusen, also in keeping with Sunderland’s efforts to build a team technical very gifted, off the back of signings such as Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Simon Adingra and Chemsdine Talbi – players on a different side of the spectrum to how Leeds are approaching recruitment.
There’s no right or wrong answer on which method is most viable for a team coming into the Premier League, but what Leeds are doing clearly shows why Stach might be a more advantageous signing in our position, adding a top-end destroyer to the midfield whose data shows he’s one of the best in class as a pure defensive presence.
Next season, Leeds and Sunderland are going to be doing a lot more defending than they are dictating the play, so Stach’s possible arrival would be a coup in planning for that inevitable situation.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!