There were a number of players strongly linked with a move to Leeds United in the summer that failed to get a move despite The 49ers making bids left, right and centre.
Players like Gustavo Hamer at Sheffield United and Roland Sallai were strongly linked. But Hamer stayed put with Sheffield United unwilling to sell, and Sallai swapped Freiburg for rivals Galatasaray instead.
Leeds did make eight summer signings, with Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt arriving. Tanaka has gone on to shine in a Leeds shirt, but he was surprisingly not first choice. Leeds only made a move for him late on.
Indeed, The Whites wanted to initially sign another midfielder in the form of Koln’s Austria international Dejan Ljubicic. Numerous bids were rejected, including an £8m Leeds offer for Ljubicic which was blocked.
Leeds dodged bullet with Ljubicic after £8m Elland Road bid
The playmaker was a serious target for Leeds, with links starting while The Whites were in Germany for a pre-season tour. Ljubicic remained a man of interest right up until the final days of the transfer window.
But since those links with Leeds and the end of the window, Ljubicic has not been his best. The versatile star has failed to score and laid on just one assist in six games, missing five through injury and illness.
This is in the second tier of German football, which Leeds proved is far below the standard of England’s second level with easy wins over Schalke and Hannover during pre-season. Leeds dodged a bullet.
Ao Tanaka has been a revelation, better than Dejan Ljubicic
Instead of Ljubicic, Leeds moved for Japan star Tanaka. It comes after having a hand in 12 goals for Koln’s second-tier rivals Dusseldorf last season, though Tanaka has been asked to play a defensive role at Leeds.
| Games since September | Tackles, duels and interceptions | Passes and chances created | Goals and assists since September | FotMob rating | |
| Dejan Ljubicic | 6 (6 starts) | 7 tackles 21 duels 1 interceptions | 204 successful passes (82.6% rate) 16 chances created | 1 | 7.31 |
| Ao Tanaka | 11 (8 starts) | 12 tackles 40 duels 13 interceptions | 646 successful passes (91.5% rate) 9 chances created | 0 | 7.49 |
Injuries have made it necessary. Daniel Farke has said he tried to sign Tanaka a year earlier and it is easy to see why, with Tanaka already becoming a fan favourite during his eight Championship stats for Leeds.
Buying Tanaka for £3.4m is a much better buy than spending more than double that on Ljubicic. He might not have scored or assisted yet, but Leeds missing out on Ljubicic was a blessing in disguise.
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