Leeds United missed out on promotion to the Premier League in one of the worst ways possible last month as they were beaten in the play-off final at Wembley.
An entire season of effort culminated in a drab 1-0 defeat to Southampton, thanks to a first-half goal from Adam Armstrong, and the Whites must now prepare for a second year in the Championship.
Head coach Daniel Farke will look back on the 2023/24 campaign and identify ways to improve his side to ensure that they do not fall short for a second time.
Leeds’ biggest xG underperformers
23/24 Championship
xG
Goals
xG differential
Georginio Rutter
16.05
7
-9.05
Patrick Bamford
11.11
8
-3.11
Joe Rodon
2.51
0
-2.51
Ethan Ampadu
2.31
0
-2.31
Mateo Joseph
2.43
1
-1.43
Stats via WhoScored
As you can see in the table above, three of his strikers underperformed against their xG and two of them, Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter, significantly underperformed – by a combined 12.16 xG.
Therefore, the German boss could dip into the market to bolster his attack during the summer transfer window, which officially opened for business earlier this month.
Work on that front already appears to be underway as the West Yorkshire side have been linked with an interest in a forward from the Bundesliga.
Leeds United battling to sign £12m attacker
According to the printed edition of The Sunday Mirror (23/06/24), as relayed by the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds are one of the sides battling to sign Bayer Leverkusen ace Adam Hlozek this summer.
The report claims that the Whites and Premier League outfit West Ham United are just two of the teams keeping tabs on his situation with the Bundesliga champions.
It states that the versatile forward is set to move on from Xabi Alonso’s side before the 2024/25 campaign and Farke is seemingly looking to take advantage of that with a swoop for his services over the coming weeks.
The outlet reveals that Leverkusen are prepared to demand a fee within the region of £12m for the Czechia international, who is currently competing for his country at the 2024 European Championship.
It now remains to be seen, however, whether or not Leeds are willing to offer the £12m that is apparently required to secure his services before the end of the transfer window, or if the player is keen on dropping down from the first division in Germany to the second tier in England.
If they can secure a deal to sign him, though, then they could land an exciting partner for Rutter in the final third next season in the Championship.
Georginio Rutter’s creative brilliance for Leeds
As illustrated in the xG table earlier, the French youngster endured an incredibly poor campaign in front of goal with his wasteful finishing for the Whites.
There is no hiding away from the fact that Rutter must improve his finishing quality next year as he spurned far too many high-quality opportunities for Farke’s side.
However, the 22-year-old magician did do a lot of brilliant work in possession when it came to creating chances for other players to find the back of the net.
The former Hoffenheim starlet ended the season with a staggering 15 assists and 22 ‘big chances’ created in 45 league appearances for Leeds, which shows that he consistently looked to set up his teammates.
That is backed up by fantastic underlying chance creation numbers as the right-footed wizard ranked highly amongst his positional peers in the division.
Georginio Rutter vs forwards
23/24 Championship (per 90)
Percentile rank
Assists (0.39)
Top 2%
xAG (0.29)
Top 2%
Progressive passes (4.46)
Top 3%
Shot-creating actions (4.41)
Top 2%
Successful take-ons (3.06)
Top 1%
Stats via FBRef
As you can see in the table above, he ranked among the best in his position at creating high-quality chances for his fellow attackers in the Championship.
These statistics show that the Leeds magician has the quality to constantly split open opposition defences with his creative and incisive passing from a number ten position.
This could make him an exciting partner for Hlozek at Elland Road as the young Czechia star has the potential to be a lethal finisher as well as an impressive creator in the Championship next season.
Why Leeds should sign Adam Hlozek
Firstly, he only turns 22 next month and this means that the club would be bringing in a talented young starlet with time to develop and improve throughout his time in Yorkshire.
Farke could work with the youngster, who was described as a “diamond” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, to help improve his performances on the pitch and, as a result, increase his value for the Whites to potentially make a profit on him further down the line.
Secondly, Hlozek has the finishing quality to be a reliable option for the German head coach in the final third, unlike Bamford, Joseph, and Rutter.
In his two seasons in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, the 6 foot 1 marksman, who was dubbed “towering” by Mango, scored seven goals from an xG of 5.72 – an overperformance of 1.28.
The talented dynamo, who scored three goals in four DFB Pokal outings, has shown that he can finish at an impressive rate in a major European league, which suggests that he could be a ruthless finisher who could thrive with Rutter’s creativity at Leeds.
Adam Hlozek’s last two seasons for Sparta Prague
Fortuna Liga
20/21
21/22
Total
Appearances
19
29
48
Goals
15
8
23
Assists
8
13
21
Stats via Transfermarkt
As you can see in the table above, he arrived at Leverkusen off the back of two fantastic league seasons with Sparta Prague in his home country.
Hlozek racked up a staggering 44 direct goal contributions in 48 matches and Farke could look to unlock his creative quality, with 21 of those contributions being assists, to go along with his superb finishing.
He could, therefore, be an exciting partner for Rutter at the top end of the pitch for the Whites next term as his ability in front of goal could make up for the Frenchman’s struggles in that department.
Related
He’s like Grealish: Leeds could sign “dangerous” EFL star to replace Piroe
The Whites manager could stop playing the Dutchman as a number ten by signing this target.
It is now down to the club to win the battle for his signature and bring him to Elland Road to bolster Farke’s attacking options for the 2024/25 campaign.
via The Novum Times
The Novum Times 