Daniel Farke has spoken in detail for the first time about new Leeds United signing Ao Tanaka.
Tanaka was one of two deadline day arrivals at Elland Road but has not really had much time to settle in as he had to jet off for international duty with Japan just a few days later.
Farke did hand Tanaka a brief debut from the bench in Leeds‘ 2-0 win over Hull City last month, but with his arrival coming after the Whites boss’ pre-match press conference, he’s not really had the chance to discuss him yet.
On the small amount of evidence Leeds fans have seen so far, there is already a great deal of excitement regarding his signing.
Tanaka completed 18 passes in just the nine minutes he had on the field against the Tigers, and his statistics at Fortuna Dusseldorf suggest he could be the goal scoring eight Leeds need.
Farke shares ‘secret’ about Leeds signing Tanaka
Tanaka was actually linked with Leeds for a brief period last summer, too, until they instead opted to sign Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev.
However, following Kamara’s exit after less than 12 months at Elland Road, it again opened up the need for Leeds to enter the market for another midfielder, with Tanaka the chosen one.
Speaking ahead in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s match with Burnley, Farke was asked about what attracted Leeds into making a move for the Japanese international.
Though news of Leeds’ interest last summer did reach the media, Farke has today revealed in more detail just how ‘desperate’ he was to sign him after watching him in Germany.
He said: “Ao is a player I really admire. If I tell you a secret I tried even 12 months ago to sign him, I was desperate. Even before the scouting knew him I recommended because I followed him. When I was in the Bundesliga he caught my eyes in the second tier.
“I tried everything last season to bring him in as I’m fully convinced of his qualities. Good age, tidy on the ball, good passing skills and can score goals. Out of number eight role he has scored and assisted.
“He plays the second-last pass, I really like him, we like to dominate the game and possession, are good with the ball and smart. It’s the same for him, big challenge and honour to have this move to England – he’s desperate to play with us.”
Farke shares how Tanaka has settled at Leeds
As mentioned, Tanaka has not had much time to get to know his new teammates due to the international break, with his first day of training this week actually coming today.
However, according to Farke, it has not taken him long to settle, suggesting he has already been able to stamp his ‘sense of humour’ on the rest of the squad.
He said: “A bit same like Isaac, he hasn’t played on the top level for a while. Obviously he comes from the second tier in Germany so we’ll give him time to adapt. First glimpses are promising, I liked his cameo, he’s shown there has good passing choices.
“Good sense of humour, really like him, good to have around, it’s difficult to predict right now he will have the best midfielder in the league, lots of competition in this position.”
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