Leeds United have had some incredibly gifted attacking players grace the turf at Elland Road in recent seasons to help them to succeed on the pitch.
Go back to Pablo Hernandez and Raphinha under Marcelo Bielsa, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter under Daniel Farke. There have been some remarkable talents at the club.
Unfortunately, the Whites wer unable to add more attacking quality to their current squad of players for the Premier League season when they tried to dip into the market on deadline day.
Journalist Pete O'Rourke told Football Insider: “There will be a hint of frustration for Daniel Farke – they missed out on some targets.
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"They are still lacking a bit up front, Leeds and he fears for them on that front – not getting the deal done for Manor Solomon will be a blow to Farke and the Leeds fans, because he had such a great impact there on loan last season."
The Whites will have to hope that other players are now able to step up and show that they can be the club's next number ten in the making, to truly take over from the likes of Summerville and Raphinha.
Why Leeds needs to find their next Summerville or Raphinha
You only have to look at what happened to Leeds in the Premier League with and without Raphinha to realise how important it is to have a pure game-changer in the squad. Someone who can create something out of nothing to win a game for the team.
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Former Leeds forward Raphinha.
The Brazil international helped the Whites to avoid relegation in both of his seasons in the Premier League at Elland Road, and they were relegated the season he left for Barcelona in 2022.
Raphinha scored 17 goals and created 22 'big chances' in two Premier League seasons with Leeds, per Sofascore, which shows that he made a big impact at the top end of the pitch.
Raphinha (Premier League) 20/21 21/22
Appearances 30 35
Goals 6 11
Big chances missed 4 6
Big chances created 12 10
Key passes per game 2.1 1.9
Assists 9 3
Dribbles completed per game 1.9 1.8
Stats via Sofascore
Summerville picked up the club's number ten shirt after Raphinha's move to Barcelona and went on to become a hugely important player for Daniel Farke in the 2023/24 Championship season.
The Dutch wizard racked up 19 goals and nine assists in 41 starts in the regular season of the second tier, before adding another goal to his tally during the play-offs against Norwich City, per Sofascore.
These statistics show that Summerville and Raphinha were mercurial wingers who could impact games with goals and assists on a regular basis to win vital points for the team during their time at Leeds.
The club's current holder of the number ten shirt, Joel Piroe, is not that kind of player. He is a goal poacher, and a good one at Championship level, who scored 19 goals in the second tier last term.
His lack of physicality, having won 27% of his duels in the Championship last season and 9% of his duels in the Premier League so far, may prevent him from making much of an impact in the top-flight, as opposition defenders find it too easy to get the better of him in physical battles.
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Leeds, though, may have a natural successor to the number ten shirt in waiting in the form of summer signing Noah Okafor, who could be the new Raphinha for the club at Premier League level.
Why Noah Okafor may be the new Raphinha for Leeds
The Switzerland international arrived from AC Milan in a £17m deal last month and ended the window as the only winger signed by the club all summer.
Leeds have gambled on the 25-year-old attacker after he endured a dismal 2024/25 campaign. The speedster only scored one goal in 21 matches for Napoli and Milan in all competitions, per Sofascore, and missed 13 games through injury, per Transfermarkt.
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Okafor's worrying injury record and his disappointing goal return last season may not fill many supporters with much hope for the kind of impact he can have on the pitch in the Premier League this season.
However, the Swiss left winger's form in previous seasons suggests that there is the potential for him to emerge as a Raphinha-esque star who is worthy of wearing the number ten shirt at Elland Road.
Okafor produced six goals in 881 minutes in the Serie A in the 2023/24 campaign, a goal every 147 minutes on average, for Milan, which shows what he can do when fit.
The Leeds winger shone in Austria for RB Salzburg prior to his move to Milan in 2023, having racked up 34 goals and 23 assists in 110 appearances, per Transfermarkt.
|Noah Okafor's best season for RB Salzburg|
|21/22 Bundesliga|Noah Okafor|
|---|
|Appearances|21|
|Goals|9|
|Conversion rate|24%|
|Minutes per goal|105|
|Big chances created|7|
|Key passes per game|1.2|
|Assists|8|
|Stats via Sofascore|
As you can see in the table above, Okafor's best season in Austria shows that he does have the potential to deliver goals and assists on a regular basis when he is at his best.
The Switzerland international was described as an "electric" and "dangerous" player by analyst Ben Mattinson, which are adjectives that could also be used to describe both Summerville and Raphinha during their time at Elland Road.
AC Milan's Noah Okafor celebrates scoring their second goal
Okafor has not had much luck with injuries in recent seasons, which has affected his development, but his form for Milan in his first season in Italy and his performances for Salzburg show that he does have the quality to make a big impact in the final third.
It is now down to Farke to get the best out of the left-sided attacker because he could be the Raphinha to his Bielsa at Premier League level, by scoring and assisting goals to win vital points for the team.
Given Piroe's dismal start to the Premier League season, losing 91% of his duels and being left as an unused substitute against Newcastle last time out, Okafor may have a real chance to grab the number ten shirt next season if the Dutchman moves on and he produes quality displays out wide this term.