While Daniel Farke has played down concerns over the lack of new strikers or defenders at Elland Road – the transfer window closed on Monday – it is no secret that the Leeds United boss did want to reinforce one position in particular.
Farke remains confident in his existing striking options of Joel Piroe, Mateo Joseph and the soon-to-be-returning Patrick Bamford. Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Pascal Struijk have all excelled too, perhaps a major factor why Leeds did not go all in on Nottingham Forest’s Andrew Omobamidele.
But while the Leeds United boss has been glowing in his praise for the revitalised Brenden Aaronson too, one thing Farke was hoping to get prior to Monday’s deadline was a number ten capable of bringing a different dimension to their attack.
“On the number ten position, we have Brendan Aaronson but not really a ‘specialist’ in this position,” Farke said last week.
“The option of a [new] number ten would be interesting.”
Leeds considered Emi Buendia before he joined Bayer Leverkusen on loan from Aston Villa. Presuming he does not stay at the reigning Bundesliga champions beyond the season, Buendia may be an option to revisit in the summer.
Ditto Alvyn Sanches, the Lausanne Sport schemer who matched Aaronson’s tally of eight league goals last weekend.
Leeds United could land Alvyn Sanches in the summer
Per reporter Ben Jacobs, sources at Elland Road confirmed that Alvyn Sanches is indeed a ‘concrete’ target for Championship table-toppers Leeds.
The club’s recruitment team appear impressed not only with his talents in the final third – Sanches has been labelled a player with ‘enormous creativity’ back home in Switzerland – but also his ability to play in multiple positions across the frontline.
Any deal for the France-born playmaker was always unlikely to happen in the winter, however. A summer agreement though, well that is very much on the cards.
Lausanne Sport are still in title contention despite a four-match winless run. Sanches made it clear, meanwhile, that his plan was ‘to finish the season [at Lausanne] before being able to transfer to an intermediate club’.
Fans of a proud, historic institution like Leeds will not wish to see view as something of a ‘stepping stone’. Yet, Raphinha’s thrilling two-year spell at Elland Road en route to Barcelona is proof of how such an arrangement can benefit all parties.
Lausanne Sport know £7m-rated Sanches will leave
Lausanne Sport coach Ludovic Magnin accepts Alvynh Sanches is likely to depart come the summer.
Perhaps the biggest indication that the INEOS-owned outfit are planning for the 21-year-old’s eventual and seemingly inevitable farewell, meanwhile, came when Lausanne Sport announced the signing of Beyatt Lekoueiry this week.
An attacking midfielder who thrives in the sort of role Sanches has made his own in recent times, Lekoueiry arrives from Croatian outfit NK Istra. According to Swiss publication Blick, the 19-year-old prospect is ‘a signing that anticipates the future departure of Alvyn Sanches, most likely this summer.’
Sanches, who now has 11 goals from 25 games in all competitions, is reportedly valued at around £7 million.
“The player has clearly communicated that he wants to stay with us until the summer,” Magnin said last month. “I think he wants to finish the great journey we’re on with us, and then leave in the summer. That’s the plan.”
Leeds have been linked with Krasnodar talisman Edouard Spertsyan as well, with many in Russia urging the Armenia international to take up such an opportunity should Daniel Farke secure promotion to the Premier League for a third time.
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