Leeds United ready to reignite interest in £3.2m player after offer last summer, Everton also keen

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Though much of the focus is currently on who might be leaving this summer, Leeds United will undoubtedly be active on bringing players in.

Leeds‘ defeat to Southampton in the play-off final on Sunday has consigned them to another season of Championship football, meaning the Premier League vultures have already started circling.

Crysencio Summerville, Willy Gnonto, Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter are among those who have already been touted to leave, and it goes without saying they would need replacing.

Chairman Paraag Marathe has confirmed funds will be available for Daniel Farke to spend on new signings, though whether it is to the same level as last summer, remains to be seen.

Leeds spent just shy of £30 million to bring in the likes of Joel Piroe, Ethan Ampadu, Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev, but due to the EFL’s PSR constraints, it is never easy to repeat that level of spending in the Championship.

• READ MORE: Paraag Marathe shares whether returning loanees will now be allowed to leave Leeds United on loan again

Leeds could battle Everton and Bundesliga clubs for Ao Tanaka

Farke is likely to be in need of additions all across the pitch based on the players who could be leaving Elland Road this summer.

As it stands, midfield is arguably the position which looks the most well stocked at the moment, though that could change if Gray departs.

Gray has already attracted interest from some of Europe’s elite clubs including Bayern Munich and is arguably Leeds’ most high value asset. Marathe also refused to commit either way when asked if he would be staying.

And so according to Hochi.News, Leeds are once again reportedly in the race to sign Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka, who was a target last summer.

Leeds offered around £3.2 million to sign the Japanese international but instead opted to bring in both Gruev and Kamara, with Tanaka staying put at Dusseldorf.

However, after their failure to win promotion to the Bundesliga, Tanaka could be on the market again, with Leeds set to battle it out with Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Borussia Monchengladbach, Mainz and even Everton.

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Tanaka is exactly the sort of midfielder Leeds need

Although Leeds do have a strong set of midfield options, there is one alarming statistic that sticks out as to why they didn’t get promoted.

During the regular league season, not a single one of Leeds’ four midfielders registered a single goal, which simply isn’t good enough for a team fighting to reach the Premier League.

Ampadu and Gray can somewhat be excused given they played much of the season in defence, but they still had more than enough chances to find the net when they were further up the pitch.

On the contrary, Tanaka provided a real goalscoring threat for Dusseldorf last season, netting seven goals and providing four assists in 30 appearances.

He also has eight goals in 26 caps for Japan, one of which came in a World Cup win over Spain in 2022, showing he has the ability to get forward and contribute in the final third.