Leeds United did nothing in the January window regarding incomings, despite strong links to multiple attackers including former Daniel Farke favourite Emi Buendia.
Daniel Farke insisted throughout the January window that it would be a quiet one where Leeds are concerned, and what he said came to pass as the Whites managed no new signings by the time the window shut.
Fans warned that the lack of attacking addition for Leeds, be that a striker or an attacking midfielder, might come back to haunt the club.
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What happened to Leeds trying to sign Emi Buendia?
Heading into the new year, it looked as though Leeds’ best bet of finding the right quality without paying top dollar would be securing a loan from a Premier League club, perhaps for a player in need of more playing time.
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Aston Villa’s Emi Buendia looked the perfect solution, having taken a while to recover from a long-term knee injury but still being barely used by Unai Emery despite his side competing on four different fronts at Villa Park.
A favourite of Farke’s during his time at Norwich City, many hoped the Argentine would reunite with the manager who brought the best out of his career to date, but he instead moved to Bayer Leverkusen, the reigning Bundesliga champions – and you couldn’t really blame him with that offer on the table.
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How is Emi Buendia getting on at Bayer Leverkusen since snubbing Leeds?
A big move for Buendia was the chance for him to jumpstart his stalling career again after ACL trouble, but he’s not had the start to life that he’d have expected under Xabi Alonso.
Their hopes of retaining the Bundesliga title were gone for some time, with Bayern Munich restoring an unassailable lead at the top after a year away from first place.
(Photo by Jürgen Fromme – firo sportphoto/Getty Images)
Regular starts for the playmaker have also been somewhat hard to come by as well in Germany, making one league start in which he was hooked at half-time during the only league loss his side has suffered since he has joined.
He made brief cameos off the bench in both Champions League Round of 16 legs against Bayern (5-0 loss on aggregate), but has a mere 182 minutes to his name for Bayer:
Competition Goals Assists Minutes played
Bundesliga 0 0 113
DFB-Pokal 0 0 60
Champions League 0 0 9
Total 0 0 182
Damning development for Buendia in massive German Cup shock
The latest development for Buendia was perhaps the most damning yet of his current situation over in Germany, named on the bench in a DFB-Pokal semi-final clash against third-tier Arminia Bielefeld.
Despite being out of the race to win the league title, domestic success could have come with a DFB-Pokal triumph, having a fortunate draw to face a lower-league side away from home.
However, there were stunned as Jonathan Tah’s opener was cancelled out by goals in each half from the hosts, while Buendia watched on as an unused sub.
Unable to get consistent minutes, the attacking midfielder’s unwillingness to drop down to the Championship may have backfired.
A report from Kicker around a month ago has shared that Bayer are unlikely to pursue Buendia’s €20million (£16.74million) buy option, further underlining that perhaps his eagerness to still play at the highest level has seen his stock drop more – rather than dropping down a level to the Championship and raising his profile in a winning side.