Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke had to endure a long summer of speculation throughout the transfer window, as interest swirled around his best players.
By the end of the summer transfer window, Glen Kamara, Charlie Cresswell, Liam Cooper, Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, and Archie Gray had all departed from Elland Road.
Kamara, Gray, Rutter, and Summerville all secured big moves to top-flight teams, joining Rennes, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion, and West Ham United, and that dented Farke’s squad.
They had all been regulars for the German head coach in the 2023/24 campaign to help the side to finish third in the Championship table, before they went on to lose 1-0 to Southampton at Wembley in the play-off final.
Those sales did, however, provide the former Norwich City tactician with an opportunity to make his own additions to the squad during the summer transfer window, as he brought in the likes of Jayden Bogle, Isaac Schmidt, Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, and Joe Rothwell.
Central midfielder Ao Tanaka was also snapped up from Fortuna Dusseldorf on a permanent deal in an attempt to replace Kamara, and he has turned out to be an excellent addition to the group.
Ao Tanaka's form this season
The Japan international has been a revelation in the middle of the park for the Whites since injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev provided him with an opportunity to play regularly in the Championship.
Tanaka, despite not being the most imposing figure in midfield, is an incredibly well-rounded star who can contribute with great quality both in and out of possession to help Leeds to dominate matches week-in-week-out.
Firstly, his use of the ball is sublime. The 26-year-old metronome has completed a whopping 91% of his attempted passes in the second tier this term, which ranks him within the top 4% of his positional peers.
He also ranks within the top 8% for progressive passes per 90 (7.19) and this shows that the midfielder is forward-thinking and positive on the ball, rather than having a high pass success rate because he plays safe and sideways passes.
Appearances
10
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.8
Ball recoveries per game
4.8
Dribbled past per game
0.5x
Ground duel success rate
59%
Aerial duel success rate
50%
As you can see in the table above, Tanaka also offers plenty to the Leeds team off the ball with his ability to win duels and recover the ball, whilst rarely being dribbled past by opposition players.
At the time of writing (05/11/2024), Football Transfers has his Expected Transfer Value at just €4m (£3.3m), which may soar if his performances continue to impress throughout the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, there is a player Leeds recently let go of who is now worth even more than the Japanese maestro right now – Spaniard Marc Roca.
How much Leeds sold Marc Roca for
In the summer transfer window, the Spanish defensive midfielder completed a permanent transfer to Real Betis for a fee reported by Fabrizio Romano to be €4.5m (£3.7m).
That move came after the 27-year-old ace spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan with the LaLiga side, after Leeds were relegated from the Premier League.
In the summer of 2022, Jesse Marsch swooped to sign the midfielder from German giants Bayern Munich for a reported fee of £10m, in an attempt to reinforce his options in the middle of the park.
Roca started 29 of the club’s 38 games in the Premier League and, unfortunately, did not do enough to help the Whites avoid relegation down to the Championship.
Appearances
32
Goals
1
Assists
2
Pass accuracy
79%
Ground duel success rate
48%
Aerial duel success rate
59%
As you can see in the table above, the Spanish flop was wasteful in his use of the ball and struggled with physical battles on the ground in midfield, as he failed to adapt to English football.
It was his first year in the country, though, and he had joined a team that went on to struggle badly and get relegated, which was not an easy environment for him to be in.
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Roca, who was hailed as an “interesting” player by Bayern chief Hasan Salihamidzic, has been a solid performer since his move to Spain and it now appears as though Leeds fumbled his sale, as his value has soared.
Marc Roca's current market value
At the time of writing (05/11/2024), Football Transfers has the Real Betis star’s Expected Transfer Value at €14.6m (£12m) and that is significantly more than the £3.7m that the club sold him for earlier this year and Tanaka’s current market value.
This suggests that the Whites fumbled badly when they cashed in on the midfielder, who is in his prime years at the age of 27, for just £3.7m, as he is currently worth considerably more than that.
He is also now worth more than the £10m that Leeds paid for his services in the summer of 2022, which suggests that the West Yorkshire outfit did not get the best out of him.
After struggling in possession with the Whites, completing just 79% of his passes in the Premier League, Roca has emerged as a reliable option in midfield for Betis.
Appearances
26
9
Pass accuracy
85%
89%
Goals + assists
4
1
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.7
2.5
Ball recoveries per game
5.7
4.7
As you can see in the table above, the Spanish destroyer has completed a far higher percentage of his passes in LaLiga than he managed in the English top-flight.
Roca has also been a strong presence in the middle of the park, winning at least 2.5 tackles and interceptions per game on average since the start of last season.
Whilst Leeds may not have got the best out of him in England, as his game may just not have been suited to this country, they certainly appear to have fumbled his valuation as they cashed in on him for a tiny fee in comparison to his current market value.
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