Leeds United were desperate to win promotion from the Championship last season, and with players of the quality of Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter to call upon, they probably should have got over the line.
But they did not, and consequently, some key figures have already departed as Daniel Farke gears his squad up for another crack at a return to the big time. Here are Leeds' new signings so far for the summer 2024 window.
Contents
Leeds new signings summer 2024
Joe Rodon Tottenham £10.0m Alex Cairns Salford Undisclosed Fee Joe Rothwell Bournemouth Loan Jayden Bogle Sheffield United £5.0m Largie Ramazani Almeria £7.0m Ao Tanaka Fortuna Dusseldorf £3.3m Isaac Schmidt St Gallen Undisclosed Fee Manor Solomon Tottenham Loan
Leeds completed one major signing early on, with Joe Rodon joining from Tottenham for a fee of around £10m. That transfer was negotiated as part of the deal that took teenager Archie Gray to North London.
While everyone associated with Leeds will be gutted to lose academy product Gray, Rodon was a defensive mainstay for the Yorkshire club last season, starting 45 Championship matches. He was a reliable figure averaging more clearances (4.4 per game) and more blocks (0.8 per game) than any other Leeds player.
The capture of Rodon certainly represented a solid start in terms of new arrivals at Elland Road, but Leeds fans would have been frustrated by how long it took to get more fresh faces in to compensate for the large number of departures.
Things did finally start to kick into gear in the final two weeks of August though. They pulled off something of a coup by signing Almeria's Largie Ramazani, a lively winger who registered three goals and five assists in the Spanish top flight in the 2023/24 season. While those were not huge numbers, they weren’t bad for a player who only started 16 times in a team that struggled badly.
He could thrive in the Championship, while the same could be said of Manor Solomon. The Spurs loanee arrived late in the window, but went straight into the side as Leeds beat Hull 2-0 on Saturday. Solomon and Ramazani help fill the voids left by departing wingers, but they have big shoes to fill.
Japanese international Ao Tanaka was another debutant in that game, after completing his switch from Fortuna Dusseldorf, while Swiss defender Isaac Schmidt also arrived on deadline day to add more competition at full-back.
Leeds transfer window rating so far: C
After missing out on promotion, it was always likely that Leeds were going to need to sell players, and the positive news is that they recouped well over £100m with the sales of the likes of Gray, Sinisterra and Summerville.
They have made some good signings, but even if they had completed deals for all of their main transfer targets, they'd still have been looking at pushing for promotion with what feels like a weaker starting eleven.
Overall though, Leeds still look really well placed to push for automatic promotion when compared to the rest of the division. Hanging on to Wilfried Gnonto and getting Brenden Aaronson back from a loan away, may prove significant. They're certainly not short on attacking options now following late moves for Ramazani and Solomon.
To have registered such a huge transfer profit, but still be in a position where they're favourites to win the Championship, will certainly have pleased the hierarchy at Elland Road.
Leeds confirmed departures summer 2024 – Full list
- Georginio Rutter (Brighton)
- Archie Gray (Tottenham)
- Crysencio Summerville (West Ham)
- Luis Sinisterra (Bournemouth)
- Glen Kamara (Rennes)
- Marc Roca (Real Betis)
- Charlie Cresswell (Toulouse)
- Diego Llorente (Real Betis)
- Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Cody Drameh (Hull City)
- Kristoffer Klaesson (Rakow)
- Jamie Shackleton (Sheffield United)
- Rasmus Kristensen (Eintracht Frankfurt – Loan)
- Sam Greenwood (Preston – Loan)
- Darko Gyabi (Plymouth – Loan)
- Luke Ayling (Middlesbrough)
- Ian Poveda (Sunderland)
- Liam Cooper (Released)
