Ao Tanaka made his first start for Leeds United in the 1-1 draw against Norwich City, stepping in for the injured Ethan Ampadu. However, supporters will be on pins and needles over the next few days with the summer signing.
Tanaka came off the bench for the injured Ampadu during last weekend’s match against Coventry City and played for 49 minutes. In that time, the midfielder had 39 touches and completed 30 out of 32 passes, achieving a pass completion rate of 94 percent.
On Tuesday night, Tanaka played the full 90 minutes for Leeds in their match against Norwich City. The 26-year-old had 80 touches and completed 59 out of 65 passes, achieving a pass completion rate of 91 percent. He also won five of eight ground duels and recorded three tackles, one interception, and one clearance.
Ao Tanaka will be busy during the international break
Ahead of the FIFA international break next week, the Leeds midfielder has been called up to Japan’s national team for their upcoming fixtures against Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Hajime Moriyasu and his team are off to an impressive start in their most recent 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, defeating China 7-0 and beating Bahrain 5-0. Tanaka will be hoping to add to his 28 caps for Japan and while it’s an evident honor for the player to represent his country, Leeds supporters will be nervous if he sees the pitch.
Given the number of injuries the Whites’ midfield has endured this past week, many will have their fingers crossed that Tanaka returns to Elland Road injury-free.
Recently, manager Daniel Farke shared their stance on whether they plan on pursuing a free agent to add more depth to the midfield and noted what needs to happen for Leeds to sign a free agent.
“If I’m honest, I’m not a big believer in doing signings in October, but let’s see,” Farke said. “So first of all, we wait a little bit and hope for a positive outcome from the scan of Ilia and if there’s really a shocking diagnosis and he is out for months, then of course, we have a look on it, but I can’t confirm that we would do then something so then everything would come together – otherwise just a waste of money and a waste of energy.”
