Leeds and 49ers tried for near-record £35m signing, he’s similar to Paixao

Leeds United looked at signing a new attacker on deadline day but missed out to a rival Premier League club.

The Whites head into the first international break of the Premier League season above the likes of Manchester City and Newcastle United in the table, however Daniel Farke still wanted more signings before Monday’s deadline.

Picking up four points from the first three games, Leeds are yet to score from open play in the Premier League, bringing in Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on free transfers.

Noah Okafor has been the marquee addition in the final third, but Farke urged the 49ers Enterprises to bring in more quality.

“I don’t play any games. Everyone in the club says: ‘OK, we want to try everything to give us the best possible squad’. Everyone wants to add, in the offence, some more quality players. If not, we also won’t raise the white flag and say, ‘OK, that’s it’.

“We have shown we are competitive in the first three games, but it will be difficult (thereafter). There’s also no moaning, but, until the last hour of the window, we have to try everything to bring some more quality in.”

It remains to be seen whether or not Farke will get his wish in January, or if he’ll have to rely on Nmecha, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor, Jack Harrison, Dan James, Brenden Aaronson and Wilfried Gnonto for the entire season.

Leeds were big fans of £35m Dilane Bakwa

Linked with a move to Leeds over the summer was Strasbourg winger Dilane Bakwa, and he remained on the Whites’ radar with hours remaining of the transfer window.

Leeds were thought to be in pole position to sign the attacker before the 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, however, Nottingham Forest have since come in for the 23-year-old and sealed a deal late in the day.

According to LeedsLive in their transfer deadline day blog, Are being taken had big admirers at Leeds and a £35m deal would have been a near record from what the club paid for Georginio Rutter back in 2023.

As can be seen, Bakwa has been compared to Harrison, James and even summer transfer target Igor Paixao by Football Transfersand Leeds ultimately missed out on his services.