It was a challenging summer transfer window for Leeds United, which lost several key players, including Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville, and Georginio Rutter. The club also whiffed on several targets, and one club chief revealed two players that they couldn’t land.
The Whites are among the candidates to earn promotion to the Premier League this season despite the exodus of players. Leeds did spend to plug holes in the squad but didn’t land one or two marquee players in the attack, especially to fill that No. 10 role.
Dinamo Zagreb attacking midfielder Martin Baturina, SC Freiburg’s Roland Sallai, and Aston Villa’s Emi Buendia are three names that Leeds couldn’t convince to drop to the Championship and help with their Premier League aspirations.
Leeds failed to land Liverpool and Manchester City standouts
This week, The Square Ball podcast released an episode that featured an interview with Leeds United chief executive Angus Kinnear. The club executive confirmed that the Whites had an interest in both James McAtee and Fabio Carvalho this summer.
“Two of the other players, looking at the level we were looking at, McAtee at Man City, there was talk he might be released all the way through the window and then Pep [Guardiola] decided to keep him,” Kinnear said. “And then Carvalho, who, again, might have been able to go out on another loan. It might have been a Championship loan or a Premier League loan.
“We thought we were first in the queue if it was going to be in the Championship and he ended up being sold for £27m to Brentford. To strengthen our team and to make it better, we have to shop at the highest level possible. And there is lots and lots of frustration.”
Can Leeds secure the targets they need to land in January to help with the second half of the season and that final push to ensure they finish in the top two this campaign?
It will be interesting to see how the January transfer window treats the Whites after the club missed out on several players in an attempt to build a squad that can secure one of the two automatic promotions to the Premier League next season.
