Anton Stach’s former club win race for long-term Leeds United transfer target

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Leeds United signed Anton Stach in the summer transfer window, with the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim midfielder one of seven new signings for Daniel Farke.

Anton Stach is a giant and powerful midfield player, and Stach has cost Leeds United just shy of £20 million if all add-ons are met — which will also make Stach one of Leeds’ most expensive signings ever.

Leeds’ team is much taller on average for having Stach but, interestingly, Stach has already shown his surprise set-piece ability in the friendly with Villarreal on Saturday.

Stach will start over Ao Tanaka more often than not due to his sheer physicality, and that advantage will be what makes Leeds competitive in games. However, they still need more additions before the transfer deadline.

• READ MORE: Anton Stach shares his first impressions of Elland Road crowd as Leeds United draw with Villarreal

Vladimir Coufal is no longer an option for Leeds after Hoffenheim swoop

Leeds want a full-back for depth, with Isaac Schmidt likely to move on. That leaves the Whites with Jayden Bogle, Gabriel Gudmundsson, and Sam Byram as the only options in that area of Farke’s team.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that they have been linked with a number of different types of full-back, including former West Ham United right-back Vladimir Coufal.

Everton, Wolves, and Leeds have all been linked with Coufal at various points this summer, with the free agent leaving West Ham United after five years with the club.

More recently, it looked as though Everton were pushing hardest for Coufal, but then the latest reports were more confident of Wolves signing Coufal if any English team were to win the race.

Instead, the Czech Republic international is leaving for the Bundesliga, joining Stoke City’s Wouter Burger after Stach’s exit. That was confirmed by Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg.

The club have since revealed he has penned a deal to become their sixth summer signing.

• READ MORE: The four different ways Daniel Farke can utilise Anton Stach, it’s bad news for Leeds United ‘leader’

Leeds’ search for full-back depth explained

Leeds had been linked with Mattia Zanotti earlier this summer, who is now a new teammate of Gjanni Alioski. More recent headlines say that Leeds are in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Zanotti for a fee of £8.7m. However, Graham Smyth has dismissed that.

Leeds United News understands that one-time England international James Justin is an option for Leeds as Farke requests cover at full-back, with Schmidt more than likely leaving in the search of game time this summer.

Justin fits the bill. He is 27, in the final 12 months of his contract, is over 6ft and has almost 100 Premier League games under his belt. It is believed a fee of £6 million is enough for Justin, but Everton are also interested.

Leeds fans like the idea of the Leicester full-back, but we believe Joakim Maehle would be a better option than Justin. Either way, a versatile full-back is definitely a necessity for the Whites.