Leeds United played out a goalless draw with Manchester United in their opening pre-season friendly, but how did the new signings get on?
There were five fresh faces in action for Leeds United on Saturday afternoon, as all of Daniel Farke’s new signings were handed their debuts in the stalemate in Sweden with Manchester United.
Lukas Nmecha and Jaka Bijol were given the nod from the start, as they played the entirety of the entertaining first half.
There was a surprising name playing alongside them, as Jack Harrison made his first Leeds appearance for more than two years after returning from his loan at Everton.
Farke made eight changes at the break, with Gabriel Gudmundsson, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Sean Longstaff, just a day on from signing, all entering the fray.
Though there were more clear-cut chances for both sides, the second half wasn’t as biting or energetic, with the game finishing level.
Here’s how Leeds’ five new signings performed.
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Jaka Bijol
Bijol started the match alongside Joe Rodon in the heart of defence, perhaps confirming what many suspect will be Farke’s first choice centre-back pairing.
It worked extremely well, too, though it was hard to tell if Man Utd just weren’t threatening or if the pairing kept them quiet.
While Rodon made some big clearing headers, Bijol had a fairly quiet afternoon and rarely seemed to actually be tested other than a couple of headers of his own.
However, his stats of a 97% passing accuracy and 100% aerial duels won reads well.
Lukas Nmecha
Striker Nmecha perhaps gave the brightest showing of all the new additions with his line-leading display.
Nmecha made himself a handful for Matthijs de Ligt to deal with thanks to his movement and strength, but showed the classy side to his game as well.
The German plucked one ball out of the air gracefully before moving it on to Willy Gnonto (resulting in a free-kick) and continued to link up well with the winger and Jayden Bogle on the right.
He wasn’t able to get his head to a dangerous Bogle cross early on, but his overall play was very promising.
Sean Longstaff
Given he signed just 17 hours before kick-off, Longstaff did well to even make his debut for Leeds.
While there were clear signs of the quality he will bring to the side, Longstaff did look a yard of pace behind in the middle of the park, rarely getting to the ball first or being easily muscled off it.
That shouldn’t be surprising for any player given it’s just the first day of pre-season, but it’s even more the case for Longstaff, who has played such little football over the last year.
However, his reading of the game and composed distribution were obvious. He still managed a 96% passing accuracy, won two duels, recovered the ball twice and created a chance.
Once his fitness is up, he should fit right in.
Gabriel Gudmundsson
Gudmundsson has a big task in replacing Junior Firpo but the early signs are certainly positive.
The Swede, making his debut in Sweden no less, doesn’t appear as fast or skilful going forward, but does look more aggressive and proactive when winning the ball.
That’s not to say he can’t be useful in attack, though. Gudmundsson was certainly a willing runner down the flank and his inswinging corner led to a great chance.
That set-piece ability is especially interesting, given all the tall players Leeds have recruited and with another on the way in Anton Stach.
Sebastiaan Bornauw
Of all the new signings, Bornauw probably had the least eventful performance, but he did do better than his centre-back partner, Pascal Struijk.
It was Struijk’s first game back in three months, so some leniency can be given, but he was uncharacteristically sloppy with his distribution and managed to get outplayed by Rasmus Hojlund.
Late on, he was even outjumped by the diminutive Kobbie Mainoo as the midfielder hit the crossbar with a header.
In contrast, Bornauw had an unassuming, solid if unspectacular performance, though he had to dig in deep with some last-ditch defending as Man U pressed for a winner as the clock ticked down.
It doesn’t appear that he will be a defender that gets on the ball much.
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