It speaks volumes as to the depth at Daniel Farke’s disposal that, during the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on New Years Day, the Leeds United boss had the luxury of bringing Willy Gnonto off the bench.
An Italy international of bonafide, proven Premier League quality.
In the space of one Elland Road afternoon, Manor Solomon, Brendan Aaronson, Dan James and the aforementioned Gnonto all featured, while Largie Ramazani watched on from the bench. Five players who would quite comfortably walk into the majority of Championship XIs.
And while Leeds may have failed to break down a resilient Blackburn – Danny Batth cancelled out Pascal Struijk’s penalty in stoppage time – such a fearsome array of attacking weapons will be sufficient enough to draw blood more often than not.
Leeds United are not only top of the table, they are also top of the scoring charts with 45 goals thus far.
Their Championship rivals will be breathing a sigh of relief, then, after Leeds fell short in their attempts to add Joseph Paintsil to their West Yorkshire roster.
Joseph Paintsil shines in MLS after snubbing Leeds United transfer
Speaking to Belgian publication Het Laatste Nieuws shortly after sealing a £7 million switch from KRC Genk to LA Galaxy, Paintsil admitted that he had turned down not only Farke but also a Southampton side who would go on to break Leeds’ hearts in the resulting play-off final at Wembley.
“There were many possibilities,” Paintsil explained. “When my agent said that I could go to Southampton and Leeds United, it quickly became clear to me that I did not want to leave Genk for those clubs.
“Look, every player has certain expectations. My dream is to one day play in the Premier League. Or at least in a top-five European league.
“I don’t want to say that Southampton and Leeds are bad teams, but they couldn’t convince me.”
The irony being, of course, that Paintsil would now be playing Premier League football at Southampton, albeit at the bottom of the standings. Leeds look very well placed to replace The Saints, too, when their seemingly-inevitable relegation is confirmed.
The Ghana international should not have to wait too much longer, however, before he is being inundated with offers to return across the Atlantic. Especially after he finished his debut season in Major League Soccer with 15 goals and seven assists across 37 LA Galaxy matches.
Paintsil helps win LA Galaxy the MLS Cup and Western Conference
Not only did Paintsil help Galaxy top the Western Conference, he then opened the scoring against New York Red Bulls as Greg Vanney’s team secured a record sixth USA title, while snapping a decade-long trophy drought along the way.
“It was about our style of play, about the profiles that we wanted, and finding guys that we felt like really fit with the guys we had,” Vanney said at the conclusion of a glorious campaign, hailing the impact of Paintsil and a few other highly impressive additions.
“I mean, their ability to adapt to this league quickly and just have incredible seasons… [Paintsil and the new signings] hit the ground running and had huge seasons.”
“It’s really special because 10 years is a really big gap, and we succeeded,” Paintsil smiled after he capped a marvellous campaign a goal on the biggest of stages. “It’s just amazing and we keep going.
“In the beginning, there was a lot of doubt from other sides. You know, people were [saying] we are not going to succeed. People were talking bad about us.
“As you can see, we are the best in the league, in the West and also in the Cup.”
Fortunately for Leeds United, while Paintsil may have rebuffed their advances, Farke still has more than enough at his disposal to ensure that the Elland Road turf will also be soaked in champagne sooner rather than later.
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