It must have been a strange week for Daniel Farke, who has had his pedigree questioned in the wake of securing Premier League promotion for Leeds United.
The full-time whistle on Burnley’s victory over Sheffield United, confirming Leeds United’s promotion to the Premier League, was hardly finished blowing when questions began to be raised about Daniel Farke’s future at the club.
Michael Brown was the first to suggest Leeds might have to think about moving the manager on, before the debate on whether Farke should be sacked began to rage.
On Wednesday, it emerged that Leeds were ‘considering’ sacking Farke over concerns he wouldn’t be able to keep Leeds in the Premier League.
Farke’s record in the top flight is in question, given he has won just six out of 49 matches, been relegated and was sacked 11 games into his second and last season.
Yet, Simon Jordan believes Farke wasn’t backed in the transfer market enough to ever succeed in the Premier League, with the 20 signings Norwich City did make in the top flight supporting that view.
On Friday, it was revealed Leeds are planning on keeping Farke for next season after all and he certainly deserves a chance to prove he can compete with proper backing.
The Canaries spent a pittance on Farke’s first promotion in 2019, with Ibrahim Amadou being one of the ‘marquee additions.’
Farke was ‘pleased’ when he signed Ibrahim Amadou
The most Norwich spent on a permanent signing upon their return to the big leagues was £750,000 on Leeds legend Sam Byram, who went on to reunite with Farke at Elland Road.
That shows just how little the manager was backed in his first Premier League campaign.
He maintained a positive stance throughout but it’s very similar to how he acted when Leeds didn’t sign anyone this past January, with Farke since admitting he did want signings after all.
One player he was ‘pleased’ to sign was versatile midfielder Amadou, who was captain for the 12 games he played for Leeds icon Marcelo Bielsa at Lille.
“He’s a good fit to our squad and a good addition pretty late in the transfer window,” Farke told Norwich’s official site. “We all got the feeling it was the right choice to do it right now and we are all pleased.
“He adds something special to our squad because he’s a physical player. He’s unbelievably quick, robust and he’s unbelievably strong.
“He is young and still hungry. He proved on a really good level in France and Spain he can be important for his team. He was captain in France under Bielsa.”
However, things did not go well.
Daniel Farke’s ‘special’ signing backfired at Norwich City
Amadou was only signed on loan from Sevilla but Norwich had high hopes for him and did have the option to sign him permanently the next summer. They did not.
The Frenchman would play just 13 times for Norwich, only winning one of the games he started, and mostly had to fill in at centre-back rather than play in midfield.
Amadou didn’t even last the entirety of his loan spell, cutting it short on deadline day of the January transfer window to join Spanish side Leganes on loan instead.
Upon his departure, Amadou said, via Pink Un: “For me it was a very difficult situation, I was in England waiting for the three clubs to agree a move.
“I wanted to go back to Spain because I knew that Leganes is a good club for me. I needed to play and I have the confidence of the club to do so here. I think I can help this team to be fine,” he told Yahoo Sport in Spain.
“I arrived two days ago, I don’t know the club very well. But here there are two or three teammates from Seville and that has helped me a lot, because I already knew them before I arrived. I am very happy to come to help this team.”
Norwich’s entire transfer strategy on both their promotions with Farke, but especially the first one, was terrible and Amadou was perhaps the biggest example. It’s a mistake the manager must absolutely avoid this summer or else he will lose job very quickly.
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