Leeds United have done brilliantly to bring in seven new players under £75m, but the club are now keen to ensure that they give the finishing touches that could turn a good transfer window into a great one ahead of the start of their Premier League season.
Daniel Farke and sporting director Adam Underwood have gone about their business with precision this summer. They had clear ideas about what they wanted before the start of the window and had charted out the course meticulously, knowing what could be done early and what would require patience.
Leeds moved early to bring in defensive and midfield reinforcements at the start of the transfer window, and brought in Lucas Perri for a club-record fee for a goalkeeper to replace Illan Meslier, who is now almost certain to leave.
The Whites have turned their attention towards bolstering their attack in the coming days and weeks, and work is underway to bring in a new striker, a wide forward and a new number 10 before the end of the window.
Can you name these 10 former Leeds United defenders?
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Leeds United tipped to be in pole position to sign Igor Paixao
Leeds raced past Marseille and Roma in the race to sign the 25-year-old winger this summer from Feyenoord in the last few days.
The Whites have tabled a new bid with Feyenoord and are growing increasingly hopeful of reaching an agreement over a fee for the transfer to go through.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post journalist, Graham Smyth, Leeds are in pole position to secure a deal to sign the Brazilian winger this summer.
It has been claimed that this has been the hardest set of negotiations for Leeds, both in terms of convincing the player and the selling club in the current window.
Paixao had a deal in place to join Marseille, and Feyenoord were committed to getting a guaranteed fee of £30m from his sale this summer.
However, the winger now seems to be convinced about moving to Elland Road, and Leeds’ last bid was around £28m plus add-ons, which should take the final fee beyond the £30m figure.
There is increasing confidence inside Elland Road that they are set to pull off a coup by securing a deal to take Paixao to Yorkshire in the coming days.
Leeds’ transfer spend could breach the £150m mark
The Whites have spent just over £75m on seven players this summer, with Anton Stach being their most expensive buy at £17m. However, the spending could accelerate in the coming days.
If they succeed in signing Paixao, the fee is likely to be around £30m, and the club are still expecting to spend a club-record fee on Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz.
Leeds expect Fulham to lower their £50m demand, but it could still take more than £40m to sign the Brazilian striker before the end of the window.
The Whites are also expecting to sign one more number 10, and the transfer spend could easily breach the £150m mark by the time the window closes.
