Early on in the summer, following the arrival of Anton Stach, Daniel Farke said his midfield reinforcement for the window had been completed.
Two of last year’s options in Joe Rothwell and Josuha Guilavogui have undoubtedly been upgraded on by the arrivals of Sean Longstaff and Stach. Ao Tanaka, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev make for a good series of options in central midfield for Leeds United.
However, question marks now hang over the availability of all three following Bulgaria's head coach suggesting that Gruev did not start for his nation in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier with Georgia due to an issue.
The fact he played 45 minutes in the second half gives hope that any issue sustained is not severe but should neither Ampadu nor Tanaka return from their knee injuries in time for Saturday’s match against Fulham, Gruev will likely need to play the full 90 minutes.
That’s because Daniel Farke has adopted a 4-3-3 formation for this season, obviously meaning that three central midfielders are required. Given that there are five options anyway, at least one midfielder per game will need to play the full match over the course of the season.
But as seen against Newcastle United, when two midfielders are unavailable, the other three are required to see out the whole 90 minutes. One Leeds insider suggested having both Ampadu and Tanaka out was borderline worst-case scenario.
Whilst that stance can be justified when it comes to quality and on-pitch importance, it cannot be so for numbers. It is not exactly unusual for two midfielders to be out of action at the same time at any given point in a season.
The reality is that, in a system that uses three midfielders, five is always a delicate amount. Should one midfielder get ruled out for a long period of time, then only one substitute is available.
If two are absent, then three are required to play the entire match. If anything happens to one of them in-game either a stop gap has to be used or, maybe more likely, a change of formation to 4-2-3-1 has to be enacted.
For comparison with other promoted clubs, Sunderland - who also play 4-3-3 - have six central midfield options. Burnley have five but they operate in a 4-2-3-1 system. Essentially, for both, there are always three spare midfielders to rotate.
With Darko Gyabi gone after not being included in Farke’s plans and the club not venturing in the free agent market, Leeds are left with five midfield options. Brenden Aaronson can be deployed centrally, though there would be concerns about doing so.
Ethan Ampadu is out injured
Ethan Ampadu is out injured (Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
Rhys Chadwick is an attack-minded asset and at 18 is too raw anyway, while defensive pivot Charlie Crew, 19, has been loaned out to Doncaster Rovers again given his lack of experience at such a high level.
Leeds did have a warning about numbers towards the end of last season. With Ampadu needed at centre-back and Joe Rothwell out injured, Tanaka and Gruev had to play the final six games as a duo. Guilavogui had shown to be not up to scratch by then.
It is possible Leeds find themselves in a similar scenario this time around, albeit with three in midfield rather than two. Now, Ampadu ought to be able to go long periods without needing to be taken off in games.
But that does place a lot of reliance on the captain, whose leadership and communication is already being missed amid his injury - which is hardly his first over the last 12 months.
The reason for not overcrowding the midfield department is understandable given the balance of attaining squad happiness and the fact that the Premier League makes the schedule a lot lighter. So it's not like having five options is not justifiable.
But would a sixth have been wise? Perhaps not a player who would demand regular game time, but one who can do a job when needed? Time will tell.
It could be that Ampadu is ready to return for the trip to Fulham with Tanaka either joining him or not too far off. But at this point we don’t know and the slight concern over Gruev highlights a shortfall that has perhaps been overlooked a bit.
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