Leeds United’s ‘best signing of the summer’ ranked 17th out of 155 Premier League transfers

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Leeds United had a window which saw them bring in 10 new signings, with the majority of transfers also for players of a particular size and profile.

James Justin was the 10th and final addition for Leeds United in the end, despite a public pursuit of Facundo Buonanotte and a deadline day move for Harry Wilson failing.

Without the differential forward player Daniel Farke craved, survival will be tough and Leeds have had to prioritise Premier League physicality in various guises.

It was a total spend of £108.5 million in the end, with every player 5’11” or taller, and every one of them also aged between 25 and 28. But who was the best of them?

• READ MORE: Daniel Farke breaks mammoth Leeds United record that not even Marcelo Bielsa came close to

Anton Stach rated as Leeds’ best signing

The Athletic have revealed the 155 Premier League signings and how they rank, with Tim Spiers taking on the mammoth task and placing the 10 Leeds players in a range of places on the list.

Ranking 147 of the 155 came Sebastiaan Bornauw, with Justin 144, and Lukas Nmecha 136. Not much ahead of the German striker came his alternative, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in at 133.

Leeds’ marquee attacker, Noah Okafor, comes in at 126. That is before a significant jump to Sean Longstaff in 94th spot and then a small step to Lucas Perri in at 92. Well ahead of that is Gabriel Gudmundsson at 64th.

That leaves Anton Stach and Jaka Bijol, with the Athletic placing them in the top third of the Premier League’s summer signings. It’s the Slovenian who finishes second for Spiers but 51st overall in the rankings.

That leaves Leeds’ new 6’4″ German general in midfield. It’s fair to say, Stach has made Leeds significantly taller, but he is also the player most suited to Premier League football at Elland Road — tailor-made, in fact.

Coming in at 17th, they wrote: “As seems to be the case with every Leeds signing in this window, his feet stick out the end of the bed.

“The 6ft 4in (193cm) midfielder excels at breaking up play, reading and dictating the game and playing incisive passes. A real steal at £17.3m, too. Looks Leeds’ best signing of the summer.”

The likes of Alexander Isak, Adrien Truffert, Rayan Cherki, Estevao Willian, and Joao Palhinha rounded out the top five in the end.

• READ MORE: Why Leeds United failed to sign Fulham forward Harry Wilson as details of collapse revealed

Leeds’ Anton Stach is the club’s most important player, here’s why

Stach’s power is one thing, but his versatility is another. There is already a case to be made that he is Leeds’ best player, both in quality and physicality terms.

The fact Stach can be utilised in different ways by Farke more than almost any other player makes him the most malleable squad player, which is vital when a team is fighting relegation and needing adaptability.

He is the most important player at the club due to his surprise set-piece ability, which was outlined in pre-season, but also his positional flexibility. Stach can play as a centre-back in a three or four, for example.

Of course, he could also be utilised in his current box-to-box No.8 role in a three-man midfield, but Stach is more than capable as a single or double-pivot at the base of a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.

Spiers is right, and this signing should only age well with time. Stach should become a fan favourite at Elland Road before long, if he isn’t already.