Leeds United got back to winning ways in the Championship last weekend with a 2-0 win over Cardiff City, who went down to ten men in the first half, on Saturday.
The Whites bounced back from their 1-0 defeat to Burnley at Elland Road the previous weekend with a comfortable win over the Welsh outfit, thanks to goals from Largie Ramazani and Joel Piroe.
Daniel Farke will surely have been pleased with Ramazani’s first goal for the club, as the winger raced away off the back of Mateo Joseph to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
The German head coach needed to add attacking quality to his squad during the summer transfer window, after Crysencio Summerville left to join West Ham United and Georginio Rutter signed for Brighton & Hove Albion – with both players leaving to play in the Premier League again.
This left the West Yorkshire outfit with holes to fill at the top end of the pitch and the club swooped to sign Ramazani and Manor Solomon, whilst Brenden Aaronson returned from his loan with Union Berlin.
Farke will also need other players, who were already at the club, to step up and increase their output to fire the team to promotion – including Dan James.
Dan James’ redemption at Leeds United
The Wales international is currently out of action with a hamstring injury and will be hoping to contribute to the club’s promotion charge when he returns to full fitness.
He started the 2024/25 campaign with a return of one goal and zero assists in three appearances after an impressive season last term under Farke, having struggled at Elland Road previously.
In the summer of 2021, Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa swooped to sign the forward from Manchester United in a deal reportedly worth £25m.
The Welsh speedster went on to produce four goals and four assists in 36 appearances in the Premier League for the Whites that season, which shows that he did not offer regular quality as either a scorer or a creator of goals.
Jesse Marsch had replaced Bielsa by the end of that season and deemed James to be surplus to requirements in the summer of 2022, sending him out on loan to Fulham.
The former Swansea man scored two goals and provided one assist in 24 outings in the Premier League for the Cottagers before returning to Leeds, who had just been relegated, with Farke appointed as the new head coach.
|
23/24 Championship |
Dan James |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
40 |
|
Goals |
13 |
|
Big chances created |
13 |
|
Assists |
7 |
|
Key passes per game |
1.4 |
As you can see in the table above, James thrived in the Championship last season with a return of 20 direct goal contributions in 40 appearances.
The drop down to the second tier allowed him to thrive in the final third and Leeds are now starting to finally get value for the £25m they spent on his services.
Things could have been different for the Whites, however, if they had gone ahead with a deal they had lined up before they opted to swoop for the Welshman on deadline day in the summer of 2021.
Leeds United’s interest in Noa Lang
Speaking last year, Netherlands international Noa Lang confirmed that Leeds did have an interest in securing his services from Club Brugge a number of years ago.
The winger, who talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbed “unstoppable”, claimed that the Whites “wanted to buy” him for a fee of “€40m”, which equates to around £33m, during his time with the Belgian outfit.
Lang went on to reveal that he was left “mentally exhausted” after the deal eventually fell through, and added that Bielsa pulled the plug because of doubts over how much work the forward would do out of possession.
He did not confirm the transfer window that it happened in but The Real EFL suggested that it was the summer of 2021, as Bielsa had left Elland Road before the 2022 summer transfer window and the Whites went on to sign James to fill the wing position in 2022 instead.
In the 2020/21 campaign, Lang had racked up 16 goals and nine assists in 29 Pro League appearances for Club Brugge, which may be why the Whites had initially been willing to pay £33m for his services.
One that got away
The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast’s One That Got Away series.
Bielsa’s decision to pull the plug on that particular deal may now be looked back on as a bullet that was dodged, as his value has plummeted since that summer.
Noa Lang’s current market value
At the time of writing (24/09/2024), the 25-year-old forward is valued at €18m (£15m) by Transfermarkt and that is significantly lower – less than half in fact – than the £33m Leeds were seemingly willing to pay for him around three years ago.
Lang went on to spend two more years with Brugge in Belgium after his move to Elland Road collapsed and could not hit the heights of his 16-goal campaign in the 2020/21 season.
In the 2021/22 term, the Dutch winger racked up seven goals and 14 assists in 37 appearances in the Pro League, before a return of nine goals and seven assists in 33 league outings the following season.
In the summer of 2023, Lang finally secured his transfer away from Belgium and signed for PSV for a club-record fee of €15m (£12m), which was an even bigger drop in value from £33m than his current valuation is.
The 25-year-old whiz missed a staggering 32 matches through injury for PSV in his debut campaign with the club, which limited his impact on the pitch.
|
23/24 Eredivisie |
Noa Lang |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
11 |
|
Goals |
4 |
|
Big chances created |
6 |
|
Assists |
1 |
|
Key passes per game |
1.5 |
As you can see in the table above, Lang did catch the eye with his performances on the pitch when he was fit in the Eredivisie, with ten goals and ‘big chances’ created combined in 11 appearances.
However, his significant fall in value over the last three years, and James’ redemption at Elland Road over the last 13 months, suggests that Bielsa dodged a bullet by avoiding a £33m deal for the winger.
