Ao Tanaka was arguably Leeds United’s signing of the season last time round. But this summer we could see Daniel Farke bring in a player that was, statistically-speaking, better than Tanaka last season.
Ao Tanaka proved to be a hit at Elland Road. Leeds United signed Tanaka for just £3.4million from Fortuna Dusseldorf and he went on to play a key role on the way to Leeds winning the Championship title.
In 43 Championship games, the 26-year-old Japanese international scored five and assisted twice, becoming a huge fan favourite in the process.
But the midfield department is suddenly looking very light on numbers ahead of Leeds’ return to the Premier League: Joe Rothwell has joined Rangers after his loan spell with Leeds United finished, whilst Leeds have been linked with several midfielders.
One midfielder who is liked at Elland Road is Shea Charles.
The latest on Leeds United’s transfer interest in Shea Charles
Earlier in the summer, it was claimed that Leeds United have an interest in signing Charles. The former Manchester City man spent last season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday from Southampton, featuring 43 times in the Championship whilst scoring once and assisting five more.
The Northern Ireland international thoroughly impressed. TeamTalk now report new Saints boss Will Still is determined to keep the 21-year-old beyond this summer but that Leeds United are ‘strongly considering a move’ for Charles before the summer transfer window slams shut on September 1st.
TeamTalk also add that Leeds were tracking Charles’ progress at Yorkshire rivals Wednesday ‘throughout last season’, suggesting that their promotion to the premier League, and Southampton’s relegation from it, means the Whites are now poised to make their move.
Shea Charles’ stats vs Ao Tanaka in the Championship last season
If Leeds fans wanted to know just how good a central midfielder Charles is, they just need to look at his stats compared to Tanaka’s last season.
Charles outperformed Tanaka in a lot of key areas in midfield. On top of that he’s a much younger player and he’s arguably more defensive-minded too, which is a type of midfielder that Leeds lack.
| Stat (league) | Charles in 24/25 | Tanaka in 24/25 |
| Interceptions PG | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Tackles PG | 2.5 | 2.2 |
| Recoveries PG | 5.7 | 5 |
| Dribbled past PG | 0.7 | 1 |
| Clearances PG | 1.7 | 0.8 |
| Assists | 5 | 2 |
| Touches PG | 61.1 | 73.5 |
| Big chances created | 5 | 2 |
| Key passes PG | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Passes PG | 34.5 | 55 |
| Pass % | 85 | 90 |
Tanaka is a great player and he’ll be a key one next time round. If Farke can now bring in Charles too then Leeds could have a very strong central pairing for some years to come, though expect Southampton to want quite a bit more than the £15million they paid Man City for Charles in 2023.
Leeds United play Man United in a friendly match scheduled for July 19th in Sweden.
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