Champion League
Farke Eyeing Move For £11.5m-rated Own Zinchenko
Leeds United will kick off their Championship marketing campaign this weekend at Elland Street the place they may host Cardiff Metropolis, with Daniel Farke main his new squad in his debut fixture as the brand new supervisor.
The Whites will likely be lacking lots of their Premier League first-teamers with the likes of Weston McKennie, Marc Roca, Rodrigo and Maximilian Wober only a few of the departures confirmed this summer season.
Certainly, there’s nonetheless loads of work to be completed within the switch market to bolster key areas of the pitch and guarantee Leeds can comfortably compete within the second tier to attain computerized promotion again to the Premier League, one thing that Farke has twice-masterminded with Norwich Metropolis.
Who’re Leeds’ switch targets?
Leeds have been linked with quite a few gamers over the summer season switch window, nevertheless, Ethan Ampadu is the one participant who has been secured to date.
It was reported final week, that the west Yorkshire outfit are desirous about signing Manchester Metropolis wonderkid Rico Lewis – who final season began making a reputation for himself within the full-back position for the treble-winners.
In keeping with the Sunday Categorical [July 30, page 5], the Whites are competing with Southampton for Lewis’ signature this summer season, nevertheless at current, Man Metropolis have rejected all gives which were submitted for his or her youth prospect (as initially relayed by Hampshire Live).
How good is Rico Lewis?
There isn’t a doubt that Leeds might actually profit from new additions of their full-back roles forward of subsequent season, with Rasmus Kristensen already gone, while Cody Drameh and Junior Firpo‘s futures grasp within the stability.
Consequently, the signing of Lewis can be an excellent piece of enterprise for the Whites of their pursuit to strengthen the broader flanks over the remaining weeks of the window, however it’s trying just like the Premier League champions will take some convincing to half methods with their expertise.
Farke might virtually definitely promise common first-team soccer for the 18-year-old, one thing that might not solely make the transfer a pretty prospect for the participant, however the membership may benefit from loaning out their star to spice up his growth and get him able to turn out to be a dependable presence on the Etihad sooner or later.
Over 14 Premier League appearances, the £11.5m-rated teen, who was as soon as hailed “exceptional” by Pep Guardiola, tallied up a formidable 92% go completion fee, efficiently accomplished 73% of his dribbles and gained 53% of his aerial and floor duels mixed, demonstrating robust consistency in his output regardless of solely beginning 10 video games, as per SofaScore.
In truth, the brand new Leeds boss might land his very personal Oleksander Zinchenko, because the Arsenal full-back has been named because the third most comparable participant to Lewis over the past 12 months, as per FBref.
Comparatively, the pair have shared a lot of similarities of their output over final season together with shot-creating actions per 90 (2.69 v 2.38), share of dribblers tackled (54.5% v 53.8%), profitable take-ons (57.1% v 60%) and go completion fee (91.4% v 86.4%).
With that being stated, the signing of Lewis can be a no brainer for Leeds, nevertheless, the membership will probably must current a aggressive mortgage bundle to tempt Man Metropolis to permit their prized asset to depart throughout the marketing campaign forward.
