Leeds United would not want to tempt fate after last season’s experience but the Whites are well on course to securing automatic promotion to the Premier League. They sit at the summit of the Championship standings and have a five-point lead over teams outside the automatic promotion spots. Their recruitment team must have one eye on the summer and are well aware that for now, the squad are not equipped to survive in the top flight. Leeds will need to raise the floor of the squad by a few manifolds before they can think about competing in the Premier League. They will need to bring in a different level of players to survive against the big boys. Fortunately, they already have at least one player whose game seems perfect for the hustle of the Premier League.
The three teams that got promoted from the Championship last season – Leicester, City, Ipswich Town and Southampton – are also the teams who are sitting in the bottom three of the Premier League this year.
Wolves are just two points ahead of Ipswich, who are 18th, and there is a decent chance that at least one of the three teams could still survive in the Premier League this season.
However, their struggles show that the promotion celebrations at Leeds United would have to be brief, at least inside the club, as they would have to go to work immediately to ensure that they strengthen the squad for the rigours of the top flight.
The squad’s make-up would be different to the one that would take Leeds back up and several players are likely to be deemed not good enough for that level.
However, in Ao Tanaka, Leeds already have one player in their midfielder who seems tailor-made to excel in the top flight and is ready to make that step up.
The Leeds United star is prepared to make a name for himself in the Premier League
Leeds fans were unsure of what to make of him when the Whites signed Tanaka for a deal worth £3m from Fortuna Dusseldorf towards the end of the transfer window last season.
The Japan midfielder was mostly used as an option from the bench in the first few weeks of his time at Leeds before the injuries to Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu.
However, once he broke into the starting eleven in October he has not looked back and has been the best midfielder in the Championship over the last few months.
A box-to-box midfielder by trade, Tanaka has done a brilliant job of adapting his game to become a more defensive midfield man this season while not sacrificing his attacking instincts.
The Japanese international is a master manipulator of the ball and can play through a press with his ability to manoeuvre the ball in tight spaces.
His passing is crisp, and he is one of the most progressive ball-passers in the Leeds squad. He has a brilliant range, both short and long.
Tanaka has scored only twice this season but is a constant threat in the final third because of his runs from the deep and his ability to get a shot away from long range.
However, the key aspect of Tanaka’s game this season has been the way he has become a defensive presence in the middle of the park. He is not a natural defensive midfielder but he has adapted his game to suit the double pivot in midfield that Daniel Farke prefers.
He has emerged as the all-action midfielder that a team need in the Premier League to take on the big sides and Tanaka has it in him to take his game to the next level.
Leeds need the Premier League to keep Tanaka happy
Tanaka is the prime example of what the Leeds recruitment team can do in the market. They deserve immense credit for identifying and taking him to Elland Road last summer.
The 26-year-old has been the midfielder to watch in the Championship this season and has the game to shine in the Premier League as well next season.
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He is the kind of player who Premier League clubs are likely to want in the summer in the nightmare scenario of the Whites not getting promoted to the top flight.
Tanaka seems ready for the step up and Leeds need to ensure that if he is in the Premier League next season it should be as part of Daniel Farke’s team.
It is getting clearer with each passing performance of the Japanese, Leeds need to be in the Premier League soon if they want to hold on to the player for the long term.
