Leeds United have looked solid during pre-season, but the lack of creativity and goals up front has been a major issue. The club are focused on bringing in attacking reinforcements before the end of the window, but for the moment, the options in the final third are paper-thin.
Daniel Farke has insisted that his team are not ready for the rough and tumble of the Premier League because of a lack of goals in the team. He has lamented that, compared to last season in the Championship, his attacking options have only weakened, and he is desperate for a few new signings in the coming weeks.
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Leeds focused on deepening their defensive and midfield resources early in the transfer window, and apart from the arrival of striker Lukas Nmecha on a free transfer, the Whites have signed three defenders, two midfielders and a goalkeeper to bolster their options in the squad.
The Whites have earned plaudits for understanding that they need physicality in their team to survive in the Premier League, but former Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson is unsure about the way the club have recruited in the ongoing transfer window.
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Sean Longstaff is the only new signing at Leeds this summer who has experience of playing in the Premier League, while the other six players have arrived from foreign leagues.
Robison feels that the level of money Leeds have paid for the kind of players, the summer recruitment has been a bit underwhelming from the fans’ point of view.
The former Leeds goalkeeper admitted that the club’s recruitment these days is based on numbers rather than actually looking at the player and his attributes.
He insisted that it is hard to predict whether these players can replicate those numbers in the Premier League, where they have never played.
“I think they have restructured”, Robinson said on Premier Sports.
“But I think when you look at the players for this league, it’s slightly underwhelming when you look at it from the fans’ point of view.
“When you look at the names who have come in and the fees they have paid, they have certainly recruited.
“The recruitment system at Leeds United has changed in recent seasons. They look at stats and figures, almost a Moneyball system, rather than the eye test.
“There is a lot to be said for the eye-test as well because when you look at players from different leagues in different countries, those numbers may add in the league they played in, but it’s not Premier League tried and tested.”
Leeds face a vital couple of weeks
The Whites have not signed Premier League-proven players, barring Longstaff, and so the focus is now on bringing in a striker who played in the English top flight.
Leeds also have their eyes on Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss and Liverpool’s Ben Doak, which again shows their willingness to sign a couple of Premier League-proven players.
However, the Whites are running out of time, and things could get desperate towards the end of the window if the attacking reinforcements are not in the building.
Leeds’ fate in the Premier League in the upcoming season could rest on whether Farke gets his hands on attacking players of the required quality in the next three weeks.
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