Leeds United had a mammoth £25 million bid accepted during the final phase of the summer transfer window, but a deadline day deal unfortunately collapsed for Daniel Farke after a key issue in proceedings.
Farke and co will be disappointed after what was a very underwhelming summer for the Whites, who spent £25m in total on eight new additions in defender Joe Rodon, winger Largie Ramazani, right-back Jayden Bogle, Japanese midfielder Ao Tanaka, left-back Isaac Schmidt, keeper Alex Cairns, midfielder Joe Rothwell and winger Manor Solomon on loan from Spurs.
On the surface, they’ve reinforced in great numbers, but it is very questionable whether Leeds have done enough to replace a host of key stars who departed Elland Road over the last few months.
Crysencio Summerville, who sealed a multi-million-pound move to West Ham, will be a very sore miss given the Dutchman racked up 20 goals in 46 Championship appearances alone last season.
| Leeds United’s next Championship fixtures | |
|---|---|
| Match | Date |
| Hull City (home) | Today |
| Burnley (home) | September 14 |
| Cardiff City (away) | September 21 |
| Coventry City (home) | September 28 |
| Norwich City (away) | October 1 |
Meanwhile, Georginio Rutter also departed for Brighton, with Farke now left to question who will replicate his 7 goals and 15 assists in 48 Championship appearances last campaign.
Alongside the star attackers, English sensation Archie Gray sealed a switch to Tottenham, which prompted a heartbreaking statement from Leeds, while a host of other names like Marc Roca, Charlie Cresswell and Glen Kamara were among those to make moves away.
The West Yorkshire giants did try to bring more names through the door on deadline day and in the build-up to it. Indeed, Leeds were plotting a late bid to sign Bachir Belloumi, according to some reports (he later joined Hull City), following their last-gasp moves for Schmidt and Tanaka.
Leeds agreed £25 million deal for Martin Baturina
According to Croatian news outlet Sportske Novosti, Leeds agreed a £25 million deal to sign Martin Baturina from Dinamo Zagreb, with the Croatians accepting their bid for him.
However, the international midfielder refused to make the move to Elland Road, which ended all hope of Farke signing him before 11pm. Some media sources have even compared Baturina to Luka Modric, suggesting that the 21-year-old could be their next answer to the Real Madrid legend.
If Leeds managed to get him over the line, it would’ve been a sensational piece of last-minute business for the second-tier promotion hopefuls, but it appears Baturina wasn’t quite ready to swap his homeland for the Championship, with the report claiming he felt “it was not the best place for his football development”.
A testing campaign now awaits for Farke, with Hull awaiting them at 3pm this afternoon.
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