Daniel Farke has orchestrated some real bargains since he arrived at Leeds United as manager. Jayden Bogle cost Leeds just £5m, and Ao Tanaka was even less at £3.5m.
While fans wanted more in the summer, and certainly, so did Farke, the club still managed to get value for money. Jaka Bijol captained a mid-table Serie A side last term, and Leeds managed to buy him for £15m.
Had that been a mid-table Premier League club, Bijol would easily have been worth double that. Sean Longstaff is one of the signings of the summer at £15m from Newcastle, according to Danny Murphy.
Gabi Gudmundsson looks like a bargain at £10m. Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer is exceptional business, and in the summer of 2024, Farke wanted to sign a winger for a bargain fee of £2.6m.
Couhaib Driouech scores for PSV v Napoli.
Photo by Photo Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images
PSV Eindhoven smash Napoli as Couhaib Driouech scores stunner
Farke was looking to bring in some attacking players after losing Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville, a little over a year ago. Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani eventually joined the club.
Well, Leeds and Farke wanted Couhaib Driouech. A Netherlands-born Morocco international, who was starring at Eredivisie side Excelsior with 32 goals and assists in 101 games. But Driouech joined PSV.
A bargain £2.6m deal was secured by the Dutch giants and he has since played a bit-part role at PSV. But on Tuesday night, Driouech showed his quality on the biggest stage, during a 6-2 win against Napoli.
PSV stunned the Italian champions in The Netherlands with a massive win. Driouech came off the bench and after creating PSV’s fifth, Driouech slammed a sixth PSV goal into the top corner, a stunning goal.
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Couhaib Driouech might become available again…
Just 21 appearances for PSV in his first season with the club and only two starts this season, less than 250 minutes of action, Driouech might be finally starting to realise that he needs to leave PSV for game time.
Certainly, the winger is one of enormous quality. A goal threat, able to create magic out of nothing, there is no doubt that Leeds could have done with a player of his talent against Burnley during the 2-0 defeat.
Driouech might become available in January or next summer and if that is the case, Farke should take another look at the PSV winger even if his value has gone up, given his exploits in the Champions League.