Sports
Leeds star looks like their best bargain since Tanaka
Leeds United have turned their Premier League season around dramatically.
At one point, with Daniel Farke at the helm, the Whites looked like being dismissed as nervy relegation fodder, with an abysmal five defeats across October and November very much troubling his position at Elland Road.
Now, the West Yorkshire outfit is deep in a four-game unbeaten streak, with wins against Chelsea and Crystal Palace seeing Farke’s men confidently power home seven goals. Subsequently, the Whites have now opened a six-point gap between themselves and 18th place in the difficult division, as Leeds continue to look up the table, rather than down.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin continues to stick out as an absolute gem of a summer signing, with the one-time free agent striker now up to seven goals for the Premier League season, after another lethal showing against the bewildered Eagles.
Why Calvert-Lewin is important to Leeds
Match of the Day pundit Joe Hart has even suggested that the ex-Everton marksman would be a “great option” for Thomas Tuchel to have in the England set-up, and it’s not the wildest shout from the former Three Lions stopper.
Indeed, the 11-time England international looks a man reborn at the moment in Farke’s set-up, with six goals collected from his last five games, making him a vital figure as Leeds continue to push up the standings.
Consistently finding himself in the perfect possible space to fire home chances, the 28-year-old is looking like an unbelievable masterstroke of a signing, with £0 spent on a transfer fee, for a striker who did have a strong 57 Premier League strikes next to his name, before leaving the Toffees behind.
Of course, the concern will be whether he does fall victim to a prolonged spell on the sidelines through injury, but at the moment, he will be considered one of the standout bargains in the entire division.
He isn’t the only sublime bargain Leeds managed to acquire in the summer, though, with an Ao Tanaka-style deal going under the radar at the moment, while Calvert-Lewin steals the limelight.
The star who is one of Leeds’ best bargains since Tanaka
It will be hard to top the free transfer signing of the Sheffield-born goal machine, but he does boast a high £100k-per-week wage, which does mean he’s costing the West Yorkshire side a pretty penny in salary costs alone.
On the contrary, Gabriel Gudmundsson only takes home a slim £40k-per-week pay packet, despite also sticking out as a “crucial” – per Farke – first team presence this season, much like his aforementioned Japanese teammate.
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Gudmundsson’s PL numbers for Leeds |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Gudmundsson |
|
Games played |
17 |
|
Games started |
16 |
|
Goals scored |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Touches |
56.4 |
|
Accurate passes |
24.4 (78%) |
|
Big chances created |
2 |
|
Ball recoveries |
3.6 |
|
Total duels won |
5.7 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
Ao Tanaka only earns a £25k-per-week wage himself. Still, with two goals this Premier League season already from just seven starts, it’s clear that the former Fortuna Düsseldorf man is another golden bargain pulled off by the top-flight newcomers, having cost just £3.5m to bring in last summer.
Looking at the table above, too, the £10m dropped on Gudmundsson’s services also feels like a fair amount to splash on a star who is now Leeds’ guaranteed starter in the left-back spot, with the energetic Swede winning himself a high 5.7 duels on average this season as a battler for his lowly team’s cause.
It was a risky move on Leeds’ end to drop that amount of money on an unproven Premier League talent, with Gudmundsson only being exposed to major top-flight action in the Eredivisie and Ligue 1.
But, he has made that transition look effortless – much like Tanaka instantly getting up to speed with the Championhip and Premier League – with Gudmundsson even being hailed as Leeds’ “best player” by The Athletic’s Beren Cross back in September, which is an assessment which has only grown stronger, after winning a combined 17 duels against Chelsea and Palace to steer Farke’s men to two memorable victories.
Leeds’ shrewd summer transfer activity is really paying off now, with Farke hopeful his team can continue picking up wins, knowing he has the likes of fan favourite Gudmundsson in defence, but also a reinvigorated Calvert-Lewin leading the line.
56 touches, 5 key passes: 8/10 Leeds star was better than Calvert-Lewin
This Leeds United star was even better than Dominic Calvert-Lewin against Crystal Palace as Daniel Farke’s men romped home to a huge 4-1 win.
