Leeds United only have two more friendly fixtures left for this summer before the Premier League season finally kicks off.
The remaining matches on the schedule will test Daniel Farke’s Whites ahead of their journey up to the top flight, as Villarreal travel to Elland Road at the start of August, before a trip to Ireland takes place for the West Yorkshire side’s clash with AC Milan.
Anton Stach will hope he’s given his first runout in Leeds white against the visitors from Spain, having just signed on the dotted line for £17.4m.
He is unlikely to be the final signing of Leeds’ action-packed summer, however, as plenty more signings are tipped to join Farke’s camp before Everton come to town next month.
Leeds still chasing £26m attacker
Sunderland have eclipsed Leeds’ spending when considering the business conducted by the promoted clubs, with the Black Cats splashing out £30m on just one player when snapping up Habib Diarra.
The Whites could blow their spending out of the water if they’re willing to fork out a crazy £50m to land Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz, with that high amount being the wild price tag above the Brazilian’s head courtesy of the Cottagers.
There also appears to be a deal now wrapped up for Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri to join the club, but the newly promoted side isn’t just looking at Muniz in isolation when it comes to some statement deals in attack.
Indeed, reports seem to suggest that Leeds are still very much chasing after long-term target Igor Paixao, with an update from Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph indicating that Farke and Co. are “closely monitoring” the unfolding situation with the Feyenoord winger.
At one stage, it looked like a formality that Marseille were going to wrap up a £26m deal for the entertaining forward. However, that deal has gone cold, meaning the Whites have returned to the dramatic race.
Leeds have been here before when splashing the cash on a thrilling addition from Europe, with Farke full of hope surely that Paixao can be his next iteration of Georginio Rutter if a move finally gets over the line.
Why Paixao can become Farke's next Rutter
Rutter would join the building for a mammoth £35.5m in January of 2023, and minus a rocky start at Leeds as they were relegated down to the Championship, the Frenchman was a firm fan’s favourite for the majority of his electric Elland Road stay.
Indeed, the 2023/24 campaign would see Rutter consistently dazzle EFL defences under Farke’s wing, culminating in him registering a mind-blowing seven goals and 16 assists across the span of the ultimately disappointing campaign, as Leeds failed to immediately break back into the Premier League.
Rutter’s whirlwind journey in West Yorkshire would then come to an abrupt end here as he moved onto the Premier League anyway with Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Whites shouldn’t hold the same concerns that Paixao will look to jump ship so soon into his stint, however, with the Brazilian looking readymade to cause a storm in the testing division after Farke and Co. clinched promotion, if his Eredivisie heroics are anything to go by.
Games played
34
Goals scored
16
Assists
10
Touches*
48.1
Accurate passes*
20.6 (78%)
Big chances missed
11
Big chances created
12
The direct, “explosive” nature of the £26m attacker – as he’s been labelled by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – was on full display last campaign in the Netherlands, as seen in his colossal tally of 16 goals and ten assists in league action, which eclipses the total amassed by Rutter during the 2023/24 season by three goal contributions.
The agile 5-foot-6 winger should hopefully be able to slot into the Leeds set-up and be equally as devastating, having also been hailed as “incredible” by his Feyenoord manager Robin Van Persie, who definitely knows a thing or two about exciting forward players.
A handful of a player, like Rutter, Paixao is particularly adept at making his presence felt in the final third, having ranked in the top 12% of Eredivisie wingers for touches in the attacking penalty area last season, at an average of 5.48 per 90, as per FBref. Rutter, for context, averaged a similar figure of 5.49 in the Championship in 2023/24.
Both a goalscorer and creator, like the Frenchman, the Feyenoord sensation also mirrors his attacking counterpart in being able to operate in a variety of attacking roles, be it off his favoured left flank or in a central berth.
Paixao will also already be aware of the hallowed ground of Elland Road and the impact stars like him can have on the adoring masses, with the 25-year-old once sourcing Raphinha as a direct source of inspiration as his career unwinds.
He could even boldly attempt to replicate Raphinha’s success story in West Yorkshire in being another sparkling gem that enables Leeds to stay afloat in the top-flight, as the excitement levels continue to build ahead of the Premier League campaign starting.
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