Leeds United have made some hugely successful transfers over the last few seasons, but have also missed out on some star players.
Pablo Hernandez, Raphinha and Rodrigo Moreno have been some of the most succesful signings to arrive at Elland Road in the past few years. Hernandez arrived in 2017 and became a fan favourite, he was even the club captain for a period. Rodrigo Moreno joined Leeds in their return to the Premier League, scored 26 league goals before he left to Qatar.
Raphinha was one of the most loved players at Elland Road, but left for his dream club Barcelona and is now one of the best players in Europe. Leeds have also missed out on some gems.
QUIZ: Can you name these 10 Leeds United players from the 2000s?
Leeds United haunted by past transfer
Credit: Imago Images
Manchester City star Josko Gvardiol revealed that he almost joined Leeds United in 2020, with Marcelo Bielsa leading the charge to sign him. But the Croatian eventually chose to move to Liepzig as he felt England was not a good place to develop. Leeds United also missed out on one of the best youngster in Scotland. The club approached Ben Doak in 2022, but the player chose to join Liverpool instead.
Before Leeds signed Georginio Rutter for a club record two seasons ago, the club had lined up a deal for Charles de Ketelaere. This was confirmed by former club owner Andrea Radrizzani. But the Belgian rejected a move to Elland Road in favor of moving to AC Milan. De Ketelaere’s time at Milan was not the best, and he returned to Atalanta on loan. He scored 25 goals last season, and joined them on a permanent deal this summer. The Belgian forward starred last night in their 6-1 win over Young Boys, where he had two goals and three assists in the same game.
What could have been
There is nothing that shows that de Ketelaere would have lit up Elland Road. In fact he had to leave Milan to perform well. Georginio Rutter started slow, but he showed his quality as a player last season. The Frenchman was so good, a Premier League club decided to trigger his clause and sign him for a huge fee. So this situation is one that Leeds United did not really miss out on. Both de Ketelaere and Rutter are great players who took different paths.
