Farke considering Leeds bid for “incredible” £10m star

The January transfer window is now officially open for business and is set to run for the next four weeks or so, giving Leeds United a chance to make changes to their squad.

Daniel Farke’s team are currently sat at the top of the Championship table, two points ahead of Sheffield United, after the first 24 matches of the campaign.

This shows that they do not need wholesale changes to the playing group, as they are already on course to achieve their ultimate goal of promotion, but that does not mean that they will not do anything.

They are three points ahead of Burnley in third place, ahead of today’s clash with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, and this means that they could easily end up in the play-off places if their standards drop.

Therefore, Farke may want to add one or two players to his arsenal to ensure that competition for places remains high in the second half of the season.

That does appear to be the case because Leeds have already been linked with an interest in bringing in a new central defender to bolster the manager’s options.

Leeds eyeing up Bundesliga titan

According to GIVEMESPORT, the West Yorkshire outfit are considering a bid to sign Borussia Monchengladbach centre-back Nico Elvedi in the January transfer window.

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The report claims that Farke is keen to reunite with the defender, whom he worked with during his time as manager of Monchengladbach in the 2022/23 campaign, ahead of the second half of the season.

It states that there is a belief within the club, however, that the Switzerland international will not want to join a Championship team and that they may have to wait until the summer transfer window to secure a deal for his services.

GIVEMESPORT adds that Borussia Monchengladbach are willing to allow the 28-year-old star to leave if an offer of £10m is placed on the table, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Whites are prepared to offer that kind of money to snap him up.

The report reveals that Elvedi plays in one of the three positions that Leeds are interested in recruiting for this month, as they are also in the market to sign a left-back and an attacking midfielder.

Farke does, of course, already have a player starting regularly in the Swiss star’s position. Joe Rodon joined permanently from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and has been a regular starter at the heart of the defence in the right-sided centre-back role next to Pascal Struijk.

Joe Rodon’s performances this season

The Wales international joined the club on a long-term contract in the summer after he spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan at Elland Road, helping the team to reach the play-off final.

Rodon played 43 times in the regular season for Leeds last term and provided a dominant presence in the backline, winning 69% of his ground duels and 67% of his aerial battles throughout the season.

The 27-year-old was a consistent performer for the Whites and ended the campaign with zero errors that led to shots, goals, or penalties for the opposition, which illustrates how impressive and almost faultless his defensive work was for the club.

As you can see in the table above, however, he has allowed his standards to drop since joining Leeds on a permanent basis, as pretty much all of his defensive numbers have fallen off.

He has already made two errors that have directly led to shots or goals for the opposition and given away one penalty, in the 1-1 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road, after not giving any away last season, and has not been as dominant in his duels on the deck and in the air.

This suggests that Leeds could benefit from bringing in another centre-back to seriously compete with Rodon for a starting spot in the

team, as it could motivate the Welsh ace to get back to his best form from the 2023/24 campaign.

Why Leeds should sign Nico Elvedi

The Whites should push to convince Elvedi to make the move to the Championship before the end of the January transfer window, despite the feeling that he may wait until the summer for Premier League offers, because he could come in as a big upgrade on Rodon.

His form in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach since the start of last season shows that the Swiss star is a defender who can perform consistently well in a major European league, which suggests that he would thrive as a star in the Championship – a second tier in England.

Firstly, Elvedi has already played under Farke before and knows the system and tactics. He is suited to playing in a ball-dominant team that wants to progress the ball out from the back, as the centre-back ranks within the top 10% of his positional peers in the Men’s Big 5 Leagues and European competitions over the last 365 days for progressive carries (1.24) per 90.

This shows that he is comfortable at bringing the ball out from defence to start attacks, but it is his defensive work that shows the £10m-rated star could come in as a big upgrade on Rodon.

As you can see in the table above, Elvedi has significantly outperformed Rodon as an out-and-out defender this season, winning a higher percentage of his duels, making more defensive interventions per match, and making fewer clear errors.

Elvedi, who was once hailed as having “incredible composure” by former sporting director Max Eberl, also won 65% of his duels across 30 appearances in the Bundesliga during the 2023/24 campaign, which shows that he has been consistent in his defensive dominance over the last 18 months.

Leeds could, therefore, bring in a big upgrade on Rodon and create real competition for the right-sided centre-back position by securing a £10m deal for the Switzerland international, whose form this season suggests that he could improve Farke’s defence.

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