Leeds star has been the best player in England across two stats this month

Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke had to deal with a lot of big changes to his playing squad over the course of the summer transfer window.

The German tactician lost four of his key players from the 2023/24 campaign, as Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, and Glen Kamara all moved on from Elland Road.

This means that the West Yorkshire outfit had to dip into the market to sign replacements for those players and to improve the squad more broadly.

A host of new stars were brought in and, alongside the gems who were already at the club, have helped to have the Whites at the top of the Championship table as it stands.

Leeds United’s impressive summer recruits

Firstly, Joe Rodon was brought back to Elland Road on a permanent basis after he spent the 2023/24 season on loan in Yorkshire, and he has helped to keep nine clean sheets in 16 league matches.

Also in the defence, Jayden Bogle was brought in from Sheffield United and has produced two goals and three ‘big chances’ created in 15 starts in the division.

Largie Ramazani, who came in to offset the departure of Summerville, has scored three goals and provided one assist in six league starts to date.

Leeds star is the best in the country

The one summer signing who has proven to be an “absolute steal”, per analyst Ben Mattinson, for Leeds, however, is central midfielder Ao Tanaka.

The Whites have hit the jackpot with the reported £2.95m signing from Fortuna Dusseldorf, who has hit the ground running in the Championship.

Injuries to Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu opened the door for him to play regularly in the middle of the park and he has more than grasped his opportunity to shine.

The Japanese maestro has been particularly impressive in the month of November. Tanaka currently leads all players in the four professional leagues in England for passes completed (317) and possession won (31) in November, per Opta stat man Jonny Cooper.

This suggests that he has been the best midfielder, and possibly player, in the country this month for dictating play with his passes and at winning the ball back off the opposition, to protect his goal and to create more attacks for his side.

As you can see in the table above, Tanaka has consistently provided quality as a passer and a defensive presence in the middle of the park for Leeds in the Championship this season.

The 26-year-old star, who won the club’s Player of the Month award for October, has dominated opposition players on the ground and in the air in duels, which shows that he is a difficult man to get the better of in physical contests.

His 91% pass accuracy, to go along with his incredible number of passes completed this month, illustrates how important he is to the team’s dominance of possession, with his recycling of play.

Overall, Leeds appear to have hit the jackpot with this ‘absolute steal’ of a signing for £2.95m, and Farke will be hoping that his form continues over the months to come.