Ao Tanaka endured his first difficult outing on Saturday afternoon as did every other Leeds United player as Daniel Farke’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
It wasn’t good enough. Joe Rodon’s post-match assessment was scathing, as Rodon described the Leeds dressing room as a “very angry” one. Tanaka conceded a penalty and Todd Cantwell scored for Blackburn.
The only goal of the game, and while Tony Dorigo believes the penalty decision was the right call, Daniel Farke questioned Lewis Smith for not sending off Tyrhys Dolan after a horrendous tackle on Junior Firpo.
Tanaka was not his usual self. Having conceded the penalty, Tanaka also lost nine of 15 duels – more than any other player on the park. A stark contrast to his usual brilliance, with Tanaka winning 14 at Swansea.
Leeds need promotion to keep Ao Tanaka or will have to cash in
Saturday aside, Tanaka is probably Leeds’ best player at the moment. The club’s October Player of the Month, fans can’t believe that he cost a bargain £3.4m to sign from second-tier German side Dusseldorf.
In his 11 starts he has sparkled, with Tanaka earning the nickname ‘Tiger’ from boss Farke. After the loss, Tanaka’s agent said he is ready to play in the Premier League and is surprised not many have taken a look.
“Many observers may soon be asking why he only plays in the second English league,” Marijo Knez told Fussball News about Tanaka. “I am firmly convinced that he can make it in the Premier League.”
While Leeds fans will not want to hear it, Tanaka’s future will depend on one thing – even if the midfielder wants to stay. Leeds are of course, aiming for promotion but if the club don’t get it, they will have to sell.
Angus Kinnear has confirmed that another year without promotion will mean next summer is going to look like the one just gone. Some big casualties to balance the books, and Tanaka is the star of the show.
Which players could be sold to allow Leeds to balance books…
Of course, promotion means Leeds will not have to cash in and can focus on trying to build a squad capable of remaining in the Premier League. But failure to do so and it will prove to be catastrophic.
Last season, Leeds had young players like Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville, bought for nothing or very little and able to be sold for big money. Only Wilfried Gnonto remains at Leeds, in that ilk.
The rest of this squad are mid-twenties. They are not going to fetch £40m or more because of their age and potential, it will be Premier League clubs buying these players due to current quality at Leeds.
You would imagine Illan Meslier, Pascal Struijk, Ethan Ampadu, Gnonto, Dan James, Joe Rodon and then of course, Tanaka will be of interest if Leeds don’t go up. Tanaka is the darling of this Leeds side right now.
If Leeds don’t get promoted, Tanaka will be the first one to attract interest and Leeds will have to sell two or three major assets to keep afloat. So, promotion is the only way Leeds do not sell Tanaka next summer.
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