Despite signing nine themselves, Leeds United were beaten to the signature of several players in the summer.
Daniel Farke wanted to be ambitious in who they targeted and for that reason, they did lose out in the race for numerous targets.
Gustovo Hamer and Cameron Archer – who both went to Sheffield United – spring to mind, while Max Aarons was also all but signed and sealed until Bournemouth swooped in at the last minute.
Another player Leeds were heavily linked with where a deal never materialised was Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who was allowed to leave Manchester City in the summer.
City were wanting £15 million to sell Harwood-Bellis which put off several interested parties and meant he did not secure his exit until the final 48 hours of the window, when a loan deal was sanctioned instead.
Harwood-Bellis joined Southampton and is now fighting for promotion
Leeds’ burning need for a new centre-back meant they were unable to wait that long and so instead moved to sign Joe Rodon on a season-long-loan from Spurs ahead of the second game of the season.
That deal all but ended their interest in Harwood-Bellis, who ended up making the move to Southampton, a side who were also relegated from the Premier League last season.
Harwood-Bellis won promotion with Burnley last year and is clearly a top player for this level, and is now fighting to beat Leeds in the race for top-flight football again.
Southampton sit just one point and one place behind Leeds in the table and have not lost in almost two months, with their good run of form actually starting with a 3-1 win over the Whites.
Given how well Rodon has performed since moving to Elland Road it is difficult to say that Leeds missed out on Harwood-Bellis, but Southampton are certainly better by having him in defence.
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