27-year-old Daniel Farke really wanted at Leeds United finally makes first start of the season on Wednesday

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Leeds United missed out on some big transfer targets during a busy summer.

The Whites brought in nine new players to replace the 17 that went the other way in what can be looked back on as one of the best transfer windows in a long time.

Despite their success in the market, though, it was not without its disappointments. Leeds missed out on a whole host of crucial targets, including Max Aarons, Joseph Paintsil and Gustavo Hamer.

Perhaps the most frustrating saga of them all, however, was their failed pursuit of Nadiem Amiri. Amiri changed his mind on a move to Leeds on several occasions after a fee of around £5 million had been agreed with Bayer Leverkusen.

The 27-year-old finally made his decision after flying to Elland Road to hold face-to-face talks with Leeds’ hierarchy, opting to stay at Leverkusen, much to the frustration of Daniel Farke.

Amiri starts for first time this season

Amiri’s decision not to move to Leeds has been made to look a poor one in the months that have followed the transfer window. He has played just six minutes of Bundesliga football, having also been left out of their Europa League squad.

However, Amiri was finally handed his first start of the season on Wednesday night as Leverkusen made the trip to third tier side SV Sandhausen in the DFB-Pokal.

Amiri actually managed to provide an assist in the time he was on the pitch, as he set-up Jonathan Tah to put the Bundesliga leaders 2-1 in front.

However, SV Sandhausen then equalised just a matter of moments later, which prompted Xabi Alonso to make a flurry of subs with the match in the balance at 2-2, Amiri being one of them.

With the added quality Alonso had to bring off the bench, Leverkusen went onto win the match 5-2 and progress through to the next round of the competition.