Despite Leeds United’s persistent interest all the way up to deadline day, it was Nottingham Forest who signed winger Dilane Bakwa of RC Strasbourg.
Leeds United failed to add in a new winger to bolster their ranks after Noah Okafor, with Largie Ramazani also leaving the club to join Valencia.
Facundo Buonanotte, Harry Wilson, and Dilane Bakwa were all considered but none materialised. Bakwa was on Leeds’ radar for a while prior to those other names emerging.
The interest seriously mounted as the deadline approached, though, with Fulham said to be advancing talks for Bakwa while Forest remained very keen on Bakwa for a large part of the summer.
RC Strasbourg winger Dilane Bakwa vs AS Monaco
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Dilane Bakwa explains why he joined Forest over Leeds
Bakwa shone for Strasbourg against AS Monaco in his final game for the side, coming off the bench before completing that move to Forest.
Despite bringing in Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee, and Dan Ndoye in similar positions in the line of three behind the centre-forward, they made their Bakwa move after Forest had a £26 million bid for Bakwa rejected initially.
It looked as though the deal may be dead at one point, as Forest went as high as a £30 million Bakwa bid and the move went quiet. But, following that Monaco game, Fulham and Forest remained in the Bakwa race ahead of the transfer deadline.
A £34 million deal was seemingly agreed for Forest to sign Bakwa in the end, leaving Leeds empty-handed. Bakwa has explained why he chose Forest over Fulham and Leeds since.
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Speaking to Nottingham Forest’s official website, he said: “I’m very happy to be joining this legendary club. It’s a new step for me, my family, and friends, and for me this is the best project.
“This is a legendary club and there is a huge history here. It’s a dream to join such a club, such a milestone for me. When you look at the work the President has done so far, this can only reassure you and motivate you to come here.
“As soon as the discussions started with the club, I had no hesitation, I already knew I wanted to come here. When I walked around the museum and I saw all the titles; that shows you what the club is about.
“The club is back in Europe and even that shows the ambition; to be one of the best clubs in the world.”
He added: “The Premier League is the best championship in the world, everyone knows that. To be able to take part in this league with the greatest names in football really brings joy to the heart.
“The rest is up to me now to show that I can really make a name for myself.”
Leeds United owner Paraag Marathe speaks to colleague at Elland Road.
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Robbie Evans’ view of missing out on another forward
Players like Buonanotte, Wilson, and Bakwa are all left-footed and could have rebalanced the attack, as well as had a huge impact in terms of their overall skill-set.
Managing Director Robbie Evans spoke to The Athletic and believes it won’t be essential to survival long-term to miss out on one profile, despite Daniel Farke making clear he wanted a creative player.
He said: “A set-piece-taking, inside of wing, No.10 type is the one thing we’re still sort of missing, and we’d love to have that to just sort of round out the entire summer.
“At the same time, when you look at a 25-man roster with 10 entrants, it’s very unlikely (that) one thing ends up being the deciding factor.
“On the one hand, you’d like to tick every single box. But at the end of the day, for us, the 24 guys we woke up with yesterday versus the 25 we could have had will probably only incrementally change our odds long-term in our goal of staying up.”