Leeds United rolled the dice but came up short and now a different kind of gamble has to be taken
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
05:00, 03 Feb 2026
Daniel Farke might have at least one regret
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Daniel Farke might have at least one regret(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
In the Elland Road boardroom on summer transfer deadline day, Leeds United chiefs felt they had enjoyed a successful window with just one final piece of the jigsaw missing.
Harry Wilson or indeed Facundo Buonanotte would have been that. Four months on, they have finally secured the services of the latter yet there is still a sense that the full picture is not as bright as it could have been.
This window was never going to be a dreamland utopia given the lack of spending room and those with rose-tinted glasses may have gone to bed last night seeing red after the absence of deadline day signings.
They can be forgiven in light of Leeds’ chase of Jorgen Strand Larsen going public. That pursuit would ultimately turn out to be a mirage - when Leeds looked like they might be getting closer to replenishing their striker stocks, the landmark would keep moving further back.
Opening bids were knocked back but Leeds for a long time were the only club to have submitted a formal bid. Hope was present but there was clear angst over Crystal Palace’s interest given their better PSR standing.
To be plain, £48million is a crazy figure for a striker with just 15 Premier League goals and only one this season. Leeds were not willing to go above £40m, but even that seemed steep.
In the end, Strand Larsen - who would have only come in as an expensive back up initially - would indeed escape from view in the depths of London.
The fact that the player had preferred a move to Elland Road is both a shame and indicative of what Wolverhampton Wanderers had planned to do all along - incite a bidding war and go with whoever offers more late on. Leeds were the ones to lose out.
While they cannot control what another club does, they can dictate their intentions and many fans will wake up this morning still not understanding why, if £40m was to be splashed on Strand Larsen, the club could not have lined up a back-up option, even if just on loan.
For context, any purchase fee would have been amortised over the length of a player’s contract and the initial first instalment will have needed to be offset by June 30. It would have also taken a chunk out of next season’s budget.
Leeds insiders described how Strand Larsen was a ‘unique’ market opportunity that had arisen as a result of Wolves’ plight. Clearly, no other options out there met their high criteria purchase threshold, and it also seems that there were no loan options of a suitable standard.
As a result, Leeds are banking on Dominic Calvert-Lewin staying fit with fall-back striker options each having their drawbacks.
Fourth-choice and sparsely-used striker Joel Piroe does remain at the club which given the Strand Larsen outcome means the call not to force him out has been justified.
Leeds respected his decision to want to stay and fight for his place, but there is no doubt that his noble stance meant United lost their most likely January makeweight - though even if Strand Larsen had been brought in, there is a world where he still could have been the fall guy before June 30.
Piroe had a number of enquiries from Championship and overseas clubs this month but stood firm. Some may ask why the gamble wasn’t taken to put him up for sale early on but it is easy to see the board's outlook.
Aside from paying homage to his importance to last year’s promotion, losing Piroe without a replacement would have been negligent. If he is indeed eager to work his way back into the team, that only helps sustain performance levels.
Daniel Farke has reiterated how he was keen to keep the squad morale in a good place and not disturb the equilibrium by gambling on a character he did not fully trust.
He also did not want to bloat his squad above its former capacity. “I would rather die the death of not having the group that is too big,” he said last week.
Indeed, his squad size has technically shrunk given the loan exits of Jack Harrison (Fiorentina) and Harry Gray (Rotherham United), albeit Gray only made two senior matchday squads. In essence, then, it is one for one.
Yet questions still linger, not least after his Saturday night comments. When asked about the prospect of goalkeeper transfers, he replied: “Our board knows exactly my feelings about what I think we should do during this window.
“I won't speak publicly too much about my opinions, because it makes the market just more difficult. And for that, sadly, I can't honestly answer the question.”
Leeds did not have a goalkeeper on their agenda earlier in the window but it is unclear whether Farke’s request came in the final embers after the dropping of Lucas Perri, or whether an early request was snubbed.
It may simply be that there were not options out there to go for, which might be the most probable answer. Yet if it was down to cost, could some of the money designated for Strand Larsen have been redirected?
In fairness, it was only late in the market that it looked as though Leeds would lose out on the striker. But it is valid to ask whether attention should have been diverted once Perri was axed midway through January.
Leeds sources pointed to the fact that there are four goalkeepers currently in the squad, which is probably overkill as it is. A fifth would be bizarre on the face of it but the reality is that many fans will not have minded.
What did not help was the inability to offload Illan Meslier last summer, with it never likely he left this month given he has played no minutes and becomes a free agent in a few months’ time anyway. And questions now have to be asked around the recruitment of Perri.
Meanwhile, the exit of Harrison also leaves Leeds without a left-sided back-up left-back, though James Justin has shown to be ample cover there.
The worrisome aspect is if either Jayden Bogle or Gabriel Gudmundsson are ruled out for a long period, then the next natural option behind Justin in line is Sam Byram.
So, it is Farke who will face up to the music to face the media tomorrow but some fans feel the board have left a number of unanswered questions in the air, despite most of their other summer signings showing that time might well justify their judgement.
Buonanotte is a net gain and it would be wrong to label the window a disaster. It’s just not been ideal in the eyes of many supporters, especially in attack amid overhanging injury angst.
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A penny for the thoughts of the recruitment team in the boardroom at 7pm yesterday...
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