You imagine there’ll be some terse meetings between Leeds United manager Daniel Farke and the club’s hierarchy after they failed to deliver the reinforcements he was calling for in the closing days of the summer transfer window.
Leeds reportedly made enquiries to sign Harry Wilson from Fulham, Emiliano Buendia from Aston Villa and Gustavo Hamer from Sheffield United on deadline day but all of them ran into dead ends.
As it is, Leeds’ squad looks seriously short when it comes to creativity and goals. They’ve only scored one penalty since their return to the Premier League, and Farke is on the record as concerned about the club’s shortcomings in the final third.
“I don’t play any games,” Farke told reporters in the final days of the window.
“Everyone in the club says: ‘OK, we want to try everything to give us the best possible squad’. Everyone wants to add, in the offence, some more quality players. If not, we also won’t raise the white flag and say, ‘OK, that’s it’.
“We have shown we are competitive in the first three games, but it will be difficult (thereafter). There’s also no moaning, but, until the last hour of the window, we have to try everything to bring some more quality in.”
But all hope isn’t lost. Leeds can still add players to Farke’s squad – but their options are severely diminished after the closure of the transfer window.
We’ve identified seven free agent attackers or playmakers that Leeds United can still target.
Christian Eriksen
The really big name still on the market.
Eriksen is evidently still assessing his options after his two-year stint at Manchester United underwhelmingly fizzled out.
Minutes in the 33-year-old’s legs appear to have caught up with him, but that was cruelly exposed by the Red Devils’ ageing and dysfunctional midfield last term.
Given the legs and physicality that Leeds have bolstered Farke’s squad with this summer, his lack of pace and mobility could be compensated for by the industriousness of Sean Longstaff, Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach.
As with Harry Wilson, the veteran Dane’s dead-ball ability alone would give Leeds another dimension they’re severely lacking at present – particularly with the 6ft units the team is now full of.
Beyond a move to Wrexham that he reportedly turned down, rumours on Eriksen’s next destination have been thin on the ground. Your guess on his next destination is as good as ours.
But his short-lived stint with Brentford showed he’s not too proud to roll up his sleeves in the lower reaches of the Premier League.
Josh Brownhill
It’s quite frankly perplexing how and why Brownhill doesn’t have a club yet.
You imagine that, at the age of 29, he’s hoping to land the most lucrative contract of his career.
His stock’s never been higher after producing by far his best season yet, with 18 goals and six assists in Burnley’s promotion charge last term. Only Joel Piroe scored more.
Leeds are relatively well-stocked when it comes to his favoured position. Brownhill isn’t really the kind of classic No.10 playmaker they’re crying out for, but he certainly offers a goal threat from midfield that none of Farke’s current options can match.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh
We’re only onto the third name on the list and already we’re into the realm of desperate punts. Being brutally honest, that’s where Leeds find themselves right now. They can’t really afford to be picky.
The Iranian winger didn’t really pull up any trees when he became Brighton’s club-record signing way back in 2018 (although he did score one absolutely outrageous overhead kick against Chelsea).
While he’s since won an Eredivisie title and KNVB Cup with Arne Slot’s Feyenoord, he wasn’t one of the stars of that team. That’d be Cody Gakpo and Igor Paixao… both of whom Leeds infamously tried and failed to sign.
Last season was fairly underwhelming at Heerenveen, but Jahanbakhsh is only 32 and has tons of international experience. Leeds could do worse when it comes to bolstering Farke’s wide forward options.
Munir El Haddadi
Big things were expected of the La Masia graduate attacker when he first broke through. Spain handed him his debut when he was just 19, although he’s since made the switch to Morocco.
Unfortunately he never really nailed down a spot in Barcelona’s team and subsequent years have seen him struggle to realise his early potential in so-so stints with Sevilla, Getafe, Las Palmas and Leganes.
He’s probably waiting for another offer from a La Liga club, having spent his entire career in Spain. Still only 30, it’s not too late to kickstart his career in a new environment.
Nathan Redmond
It feels like a long time ago that Pep Guardiola was maniacally berating Redmond on the pitch after a Premier League game.
That’s because it was a long time ago – way back in 2017, in fact. God, we’re old.
We went there with a bank of four, a bank of five and one up top. We defended for the whole game,” Redmond recalled years later.
“Pep was a bit annoyed that I was playing like that after last time. He was telling me, ‘You are a really good player, why are you playing like this?’
“He was trying to be as respectful as possible, but that’s him. Whenever we’ve spoken since, it’s always been very respectful. I haven’t got a bad word to say about him.”
Guardiola will be disappointed that Redmond’s career has drifted a bit in recent years, having done little of note at Burnley and Besiktas, but he’s still only 31 and has 276 Premier League appearances under his belt.
Redmond wouldn’t be the guaranteed starter game-changer that Leeds really could have done with, but as a low-cost bench-warmer it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The fact that Oxlade-Chamberlain is getting linked with Championship clubs like Birmingham City tells us a thing or two about the toll the injuries have taken on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s career.
Still Arsenal’s record sale, Oxlade-Chamberlain won almost everything there is to win at Liverpool, but he was largely sidelined when Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were at their brilliant best.
After two years in the Turkish Super Lig wilderness with Besiktas, we’re not expecting Oxlade-Chamberlain to be a world-beater. But he only recently turned 32 and theoretically has more to offer.
Dele Alli
Call this one your wildcard.
Leeds haven’t been afraid to go after injury-prone players who haven’t consistently produced the goods in a number of years – from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Noah Okafor.
Why not add the ultimate footballing salvage job? You imagine there’s a part of every coach that would back themselves to get Dele back to his Tottenham pomp. The man himself has spoken of his lofty ambitions to get into England’s World Cup squad next summer.
That comeback trail needs to start right about now after his stint in Serie A with Cesc Fabregas’ Como unfortunately proved to be a non-starter. He’s now well and truly at last-chance saloon territory.
At this point, it’d be a minor miracle for Dele to return to the immense level he was at in 2016-17. But that player is exactly what Leeds need. We can’t see it happening, but that doesn’t stop us dreaming.
Go on, Leeds. Get him on a pay-to-play deal, fire up the Rocky soundtrack and start working on giving us the ultimate football comeback story.
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