The key winners and losers from Leeds United following Monday’s closing of the January transfer window.
Leeds United were never expected to go all guns blazing into the January transfer window and so it has come to pass. Daniel Farke welcomed one first-team player through the door, waved one goodbye and watched one potential signing drift out of reach.
Farke’s squad is now set for the final 14 games of the Premier League season. Here are the YEP’s winners and losers from the past month.
Winners
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: Leeds saw Strand Larsen as more of a unique market opportunity than a squad gap that needed filling but having missed out, there is next-to-no chance of Calvert-Lewin losing his starting place when fit. Lukas Nmecha has been steady, scoring five goals while only starting six of his 19 Premier League appearances, but he’s rarely threatened to become first-choice No.9.
Strand Larsen would have threatened to claim that spot, particularly if he’d returned to his 2024/25 levels of goalscoring, leaving Calvert-Lewin at risk of dropping down the pecking order and losing any hope of an England World Cup call-up. But he remains the main man, so long as he stays fit. Please just stay fit.
Facundo Buonanotte: A wrong decision righted at the next available opportunity, Buonanotte’s bizarre loan move to Chelsea was cut short last month after 45 minutes of Premier League football and he joined summer suitors Leeds. It might have felt a little awkward at first, given a flight was booked for him up to West Yorkshire in August, but all is quickly forgotten and the YEP understands the Argentinian pushed for this January U-turn.
Buonanotte’s introduction into the first-team picture at Leeds is being managed, given that lack of football, but with two substitute appearances totalling 26 minutes he’s already well on the way to bettering his meagre Chelsea tally. And as match sharpness improves, the 21-year-old will hope to contribute towards survival at Elland Road with goals and assists.
Harry Gray: Speaking of goals, Gray can score a few can’t he? He scored plenty for Leeds Under-21s and after getting his first senior move on loan to League One Rotherham, he’s netted twice already. Last weekend’s brilliant finish at Exeter City followed a near-post header against Northampton Town to make it two in two for the teenager.
Rotherham United's Harry Gray celebrates his goal against Northampton (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)placeholder image
Rotherham United's Harry Gray celebrates his goal against Northampton (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
What’s more, those two goals have helped Rotherham win back-to-back games for the first time since October. They’ve also ended an 11-game winless run to pull out of the relegation zone, with Millers fans already singing the praises of their 17-year-old loan star. Regular starts and the chance to score senior goals were all Gray wanted from his first ever loan move, and so far he’s getting both.
Losers
Joel Piroe: The Dutchman got his wish in January, and is a winner in that sense, but remains so far down the pecking order it’s hard to see a time where he can prove himself a Premier League striker. He’s already third or fourth choice for the main No.9 position and potentially down to fifth for the second striker role, with natural wingers/No.10s like Noah Okafor, Brenden Aaronson or Buonanotte preferred.
Leeds’ January stance on Piroe was clear. They would not push him out the door but a desire to commit almost £40m on another striker who would go ahead of him in the pecking order suggests regular football between now and May will not come easy. Not wanting to drop back into the Championship, a league he has virtually completed, is fair enough but it feels the 26-year-old is in limbo.
Willy Gnonto: Another whose place in the pecking order is up for debate, but on this occasion Leeds did welcome a new signing who has gone in ahead of the Italian. Buonanotte joins Okafor and Aaronson as preferred options for Farke in the winger/second-striker role and Gnonto’s already low minutes could well suffer.
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The 22-year-old hasn’t started a Premier League game since Manchester City in November, and even then he was taken off at half-time to facilitate Farke’s season-altering formation change. Dan James is also closing in on a return from injury, adding yet more competition to a well-stocked area of the pitch.
Charlie Crew: A real shame for the young midfielder, whose season-long loan at Doncaster Rovers was cut short at the start of January after just five League One starts. Leeds were expected to sanction a six-month switch before Monday’s deadline but it appears no suitors came forward, with Crew now set to spend the rest of this season with the Under-21s.
The 19-year-old now has a proper taste of senior football, having played 13 League Two games for Doncaster last season and also featured for the Welsh international side. Dropping back into youth-level football will feel like a serious step down, and could affect his already slim chances of a World Cup call-up if Craig Bellamy’s side qualify.
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