Leeds United are marching on in their pursuit of an instant return to the Premier League after they were relegated from the top-flight earlier this year.
The Whites enjoyed and endured three seasons of football at the top table of English football before tumbling back down to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
In an attempt to bolster their chances of bouncing back at the first attempt, the club decided to appoint German head coach Daniel Farke over the summer – arriving with two league titles at this level under his belt from his time with Norwich City.
Leeds opted to back him in the transfer window as they allowed the impressive tactician to snap up nine new recruits to improve his playing squad.
Joe Rodon, Djed Spence, Ilia Gruev, Karl Darlow, Glen Kamara, Joel Piroe, Ethan Ampadu, Sam Byram, and Jaidon Anthony were all signed either permanently or on loan.
However, Angus Kinnear has revealed that there could be funds available to Farke for him to make further additions to the group during the January transfer window, which could take the head coach into double figures for signings this season.
With this in mind, the ex-Borussia Monchengladbach boss must reignite his interest in a deal to sign Granada forward Myrto Uzuni at the start of next year.
Leeds United transfer news – Myrto Uzuni
The Whites were named as one of a number of interested parties in the Albania international ahead of the 2023/24 campaign following his impressive displays last term.
AS reported that Leeds, Brentford, Southampton, Stade Reims, Galatasaray, and unnamed Saudi Arabian sides, were all keen, or had been keen, on the talented attacker.
He has a release clause worth €25m (£21.8m) in his current contract with the Spanish side, which was €15m (£10.5m) prior to their promotion earlier this year.
The LaLiga outfit were able to keep hold of him over the summer as they demanded his full release clause from any interested clubs, which allowed them to bat off approaches for his services.
However, it remains to be seen how much they would want for the 28-year-old forward in January as he has had a mixed start to the 2023/24 season.
Leeds are currently third in the Championship and sit eight points behind Ipswich Town and Leicester City, who occupy the two automatic promotion places.
If the Whites can overtake one of them to be in the driving seat for promotion by the time January rolls around, then they could be an attractive option for Uzuni, and any other potential targets, with the allure of a return to the Premier League possibly being a strong selling point.
Farke must attempt to convince both Granada and Uzuni to agree to the move as the Albanian wizard would thrive alongside Georgino Rutter in attack, due to the French gem’s exceptional creativity.
Rutter’s season in numbers
The 21-year-old centre-forward has proven himself to be a terrific Championship performer with his ability to consistently split open opposition defences both with his dribbling and passing qualities.
Rutter endured a rough first five months at Elland Road after he was thrust into the midst of a relegation battle and played under three different managers – Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, and Sam Allardyce – following a club-record £35.5m switch from Hoffenheim.
He was unable to hit the ground running in English football, understandably so under the circumstances, and ended the season with zero goals and one assist in 11 Premier League appearances for the club.
The drop down to the Championship and the appointment of Farke, who has deployed an attractive, possession-based, style of football, has allowed the French talent to hit his stride in Yorkshire this season.
Rutter has racked up three goals and five assists in 14 league starts for the Whites so far this season, and no Leeds player has managed more assists than him.
The former Bundesliga prospect ranks within the top 1% of his positional Championship peers this term for assists (0.36), xAG (0.47), and shot-creating actions (4.74) per 90.
However, the exciting hotshot may feel aggrieved to only have five assists to his name as he has created 15 ‘big chances’ and accrued 6.5 xAG, which suggests that his fellow attackers have not made the most of his creativity.
Leeds must now secure a swoop to sign Uzuni in January as he has the potential to thrive alongside the forward as someone who could finish off the opportunities that Rutter creates.
The statistics that show why Myrto Uzuni could thrive with Rutter
The Albania international has had a solid start to life in the Spanish top-flight with Granada this season as he has racked up four goals and created three ‘big chances’ in 13 appearances so far.
However, his impressive form throughout the 2022/23 campaign in LaLiga 2 suggests that the superb winger could be a huge goalscoring threat for Leeds.
Uzuni in 23/24 LaLiga (via Sofascore) | |
|---|---|
Statistic | Performance |
Appearances | 13 |
Goals | Four |
xG | 4.01 |
Dribbles completed | Nine |
Key passes | Seven |
The 28-year-old sensation plundered an eye-catching 23 goals and five assists in 35 starts for Granada as they won promotion to LaLiga last term.
His spell in Spain has come off the back of a superb return of 36 goals and 14 assists in 67 appearances for Ferencvaros across two years in Hungary.
This means that the 5 foot 10 gem has produced 64 goals and 20 assists in 134 outings in all competitions for Ferencvaros and Granada combined since the start of the 2020/21 campaign.
Uzuni, who was once hailed as “impressive” by journalist Josh Bunting whilst representing his country, has proven himself to be a consistent scoring threat over the past few seasons, in Hungary and Spain.
This suggests that the Granada winger would thrive alongside Rutter as the French magician has the quality to provide him with a constant stream of chances in the final third.
They could, therefore, be a terrific duo at the top end of the pitch for Leeds as Uzuni could become a lethal scorer with the help of the France U21 international’s creative brilliance, which is why Farke should reignite his interest in the LaLiga talent at the start of next year.
