Largie Ramazani’s future at Leeds United remains uncertain, given the place he is currently in Daniel Farke’s pecking order in the Premier League.
Leeds United signed the Belgian wide forward last summer from UD Almeria, with many feeling Daniel Farke underutilised Largie Ramazani for Leeds over the course of last season.
They had the likes of Dan James, Manor Solomon, and Willy Gnonto at their disposal out wide last season. This year, Noah Okafor has been signed, Jack Harrison has returned from loan, and Brenden Aaronson has been utilised out wide in pre-season and against Everton.
Leeds struck a £10 million deal for Ramazani, which included a 15% sell-on clause to Almeria. However, he made 31 appearances last term, scoring seven and assisting a further two; that came from just nine starts in all competitions.
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Largie Ramazani’s role explained by Daniel Farke
After Ramazani was an unused substitute on Monday, the 24-year-old has failed to come on in seven of the last 14 games for Daniel Farke’s side.
Aaronson and Harrison were the pair of wingers to replace Gnonto and James. Okafor has come in and Solomon interest could be bad news for Ramazani.
Transfer interest hasn’t been plentiful yet but Ramazani has already turned down Aris Thessaloniki, a Greek outfit. You have to imagine that a more significant offer would be a consideration for the 24-year-old.
Earlier last season, Farke discussed the situation privately with Ramazani. He was asked about his future in yesterday’s press conference, skirting round the subject at first before finally explaining Ramazani’s role in the squad in more detail.
He said: “I think, nowadays, it’s important for all the wingers to be flexible. Willy has played for us more often on the right wing but, of course, he can play on the left.
“Jack, for us, in more or less his first part during his Leeds career has played very often on the left wing. Also, right now, he is a substitution. But, for example, in the last game day for Everton he has played on the right wing.
“Can do the same, more or less, with Dan James the same. So, I think, nowadays, you don’t have a specialist winger who always plays on the right side or the left side.
“Yes, perhaps, if you have a really special player, like earlier years, Arjen Robben, who always is tucked inside from the right side; but I think all our wingers are flexible.
“Largie, as well, can play on the left wing and can play on the right wing; he can play on both sides. For that, it’s always up to how the set up of the opponent is with strengths we want to use.
“Also, which full-back plays on the side? If it’s a full-back who stays a bit deeper or if he goes a bit higher. I think this is what you have to take into account.
“And also what happens on the training pitch; how impressive they are. We also switch it a bit on the training pitch with our wingers quite often. And Largie can also play both sides.
“For us, he is more often played on the left side, but he can also play on the right side.”
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Largie Ramazani’s remarkable statistics in the Championship
Farke has previously admitted that Ramazani can create something out of nothing, which is why so many supporters are keen to see more of him.
Per FotMob, Ramazani had the most shots per 90 in the Championship last season. Perhaps most impressively of all, though, are Ramazani’s underlying numbers beyond that.
In terms of xG + xA per 90, Ramazani was the most threatening player in the division. He had 0.69, just ahead of James (0.66), Solomon (0.64), and Ephron Mason-Clark (0.64) plus Emmanuel Latte Lath (0.62). Ramazani also contributed to 0.92 goals or assists per 90.
Evidently, he is a talented player with a lot of threat. Unsurprisingly, that 0.92 statistic was also the most in the league for players above 500 minutes.
Tony Dorigo believes Ramazani needed a strong pre-season, but already failing to feature against Everton is perhaps a damning sign for the Belgian winger.
In pre-season, Ramazani enjoyed featuring with Gabriel Gudmundsson on the same flank already. They could be a strong wing pairing, but Okafor and Gnonto and Harrison all appear to have a higher place in the pecking order.
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