Daniel Farke has called on the Leeds United board to strengthen out wide before the end of the summer.
The Whites have spent around £80million on seven players during the transfer window. Lukas Nmecha, Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Sean Longstaff, Lucas Perri and Anton Stach have come through the Elland Road doors, but Farke believes his side are still light in the final third.
Leeds are in the market for a wide forward and missed out on a deal for Feyernoord's Igor Paixao last month, with the talented Brazilian instead picking Marseille as his next destination.
Several others have been linked with a move to West Yorkshire, including Ajax's Mika Godts, Royal Antwerp's Michel Ange Balikwisha, Rennes' Arnaud Kalimuendo. Manor Solomon has been tipped to return after he spent last season on loan at Leeds, scoring 10 times in 41 appearances.
With Daniel James and Jack Harrison unavailable to face Villarreal in the club's latest pre-season fixture, Farke used Brenden Aaronson on the right with Wilfried Gnonto starting on the left. Meanwhile, Largie Ramazani was the only senior wide forward option on the bench.
Speaking about Leeds' need to add more strength and quality in the attacking department, Farke said following Saturday's 1-1 draw against Villarreal: You could tell in the offensive area we need a bit more quality, we know this.
"If you compare our offence now to the Championship offence last season, we have lost our standout player in the second half of the season in Manor Solomon and we know we need additions in this position.
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"We then have a day like today where Daniel James is an important player but he isn't available due to a light injury concern, Jack Harrison wasn't available due to a little adductor injury and then of course it's a bit light in the offence.
"We had to use Brenden Aaronson a bit on the role which hasn't played much in the last season but overall in his career, for his stage and his time in pre-season, being back nine or 10 days. He put in a good shift, was involved in the equaliser with more or less the assist and good work against the ball. Not every ball was tidy but overall he was important for our offensive game today. We also know that we definitely need a few additions there."
James missed out on the game against Villarreal as he had a "slight problem", while Harrison wasn't involved as he sustained an adductor problem and has had a scan to discover the extent of the issue.
Farke added: "Yes both injuries. Daniel James had a slight problem during the week and we didn't want to risk him. Jack has had more or less each and every training session before each of our games and after the training camp.
"He is right now struggling with a few adductor problems, has had a scan and we wait for that outcome. We hope it's just a few days that he will miss and hope to have him available hopefully for the Milan game."
Lucas Perri, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Jayden Bogle were among the others that didn't feature for Leeds against Villarreal. Farke revealed that ex-Lyon 'keeper Perri is building his fitness back after a minor injury, while Bornauw is getting there following his summer move from Wolfsburg.
However, Farke is more concerned about Bogle. "It's a hip flexor and that's a bit of a concern if I'm honest because I am not sure if I have him available for our game against AC Milan," he said on the ex-Sheffield United man.
"I hope to have him available for our last week of pre-season because he's an important player for us.
"We all know we need forward additions, but you look at the full-back positions and if there is an injury to Jayden or perhaps on the other side. I was sweating when Gabby [Gudmundsson] went down. It's a position we need to be aware about and the quality that's needed there for the Premier League.
"I hope to have him (Bogle) back as soon as possible because he was outstanding last season. He's had a good pre-season so far, but due to these hip flexor problems, it wasn't possible to play him. He'll probably miss a few more days of training. Hopefully he's back for the first game."
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