Leeds United have brought in Gabriel Gudmundsson, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jaka Bijol, and Lukas Nmecha to bolster their squad ahead of the Premier League season.
They have placed a clear emphasis on the defensive side of the team in the opening weeks of the summer transfer window, as three of those four players are defenders.
The Championship champions have plenty more work to do to build a squad that can avoid an instant relegation from the Premier League, though, and there is plenty of work going on behind the scenes.
David Ornstein has claimed that the Whites have agreed a fee of up to £15m with Newcastle United to snap up central midfielder Sean Longstaff this summer.
The Magpies academy graduate is now poised to become the club’s fifth signing of the summer transfer window, and will come in to bolster Daniel Farke’s options in the middle of the park.
What Sean Longstaff will bring to Leeds
It will be interesting to see the kind of role that the 27-year-old midfield maestro will play within the Leeds squad next season, and what formation the manager decides to go with.
Should Farke stick with the 4-2-3-1 that has dominated his time in England, with both Norwich and Leeds, then Longstaff will be one of the options for the double pivot in front of the back four.
On paper, Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka are the starting options for the Whites in those positions when fit and available, but a fee of £15m is a significant sum of money for a player if the Whites are not planning for him to be a starter.
What Longstaff has over both Ampadu and Tanaka is that he is a proven Premier League performer who has shown that he can produce solid performances at that level, as shown by his defensive output last term.
Tackles
3.05
Top 19%
Interceptions
0.79
Bottom 35%
Blocks
1.92
Top 8%
Clearances
0.79
Top 46%
Percentage of dribblers tackled
66.7%
Top 4%
Passes blocked
1.35
Top 11%
Errors
0.00
Top 12%
As you can see in the table above, the English ace ranked well among his positional peers in the league in a host of defensive metrics for Newcastle, which shows that he could provide a solid presence in front of the back four.
However, Longstaff also scored zero goals, created zero ‘big chances’, and registered zero assists, which suggests that he is not likely to make a big impact in possession.
Therefore, the experienced midfielder could bring solid, albeit unexciting, performances to the team in midfield, and that could play an important role in the club’s attempts to avoid relegation.
Leeds in talks to sign another midfielder
The Whites could, however, land an even bigger signing for their midfield than Longstaff, as they are reportedly pursuing a deal for a Bundesliga star.
Transfer Focus
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According to Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg, Leeds United are in talks to sign Hoffenheim central midfielder Anton Stach this summer.
The reporter claims that the two clubs are in negotiations over a possible deal for the 26-year-old giant, but there is no agreement on a transfer fee at this moment in time.
Plettenberg adds that the West Yorkshire outfit have already agreed personal terms with the German midfield star, which suggests that there will not be many hurdles to clear if they can agree a fee with the Bundesliga side.
He also reveals that Hoffenheim are looking for a fee of around £17m, with add-ons on top of that, to allow Stach to move on this summer, and it remains to be seen whether or not Leeds are willing to splash that kind of cash on him.
Why Stach would be a bigger signing than Longstaff
Stach would be a bigger and more important signing for the Whites than Longstaff for several reasons, not least because he would cost at least £2m more to bring to Elland Road.
As well as potentially costing more than the nearly-completed deal for the Newcastle star, the German giant is also five inches taller than the Englishman and would provide more of a presence in the middle of the park.
Possible signing Anton Stach
6 ft 4
Ilia Gruev
6 ft 1
Ethan Ampadu
6 ft
Ao Tanaka
5 ft 11
Sean Longstaff
5 ft 11
Brenden Aaronson
5 ft 10
As you can see in the table above, Stach would be the tallest central midfield option at Farke’s disposal next season, by some distance, if he joins the club.
The £17m-rated star used his physicality to his advantage in the Bundesliga last season by winning 59% of his ground duels and 57% of his aerial duels, winning 5.6 duels per game in comparison to Longstaff’s 1.7. This suggests that he could provide more strength to the team out of possession than the Magpies man.
Stach’s form in the German top-flight also suggests that he has the potential to make more of an impact at the top end of the pitch, as he scored two goals and created four ‘big chances’ for his side, showing that the midfielder can push forward to make things happen in the final third at times.
He also averaged 5.29 progressive passes per 90, compared to Longstaff’s 4.51 per 90 in the Premier League, which suggests that he may progress play more frequently for Leeds by playing through the lines and attempting risky passes.
As further illustrated by the chart above, Stach has the potential to offer more to the team in pretty much every facet of midfield play, with his qualities on and off the ball, based on their respective form in the 2024/25 campaign at league level.
This is why the Hoffenheim star would be an even bigger signing for the Whites because he would provide more quality to Farke’s side on the pitch, and increase their chances of avoiding instant relegation even more than Longstaff would.
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