Leeds United’s January transfer activity was extremely late this time around, with Connor Roberts joining Daniel Farke’s playing team on the deadline day.
Despite the paucity of business, Leeds were linked with many names during the month, with Manuel Benson and Ben Godfrey among those rumored to be on their way to Elland Road in midseason.
However, one name that kept coming up in January was Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall, with the Whites rumoured to be interested in the defender who had fallen out of favour at the City Ground this season.
Forest left it extremely late to make the centre-back available on loan, with rumors claiming Nuno Espirito Santo only allowed for a temporary switch late on deadline day, leaving the Whites with little time to complete the transaction [Alan Nixon, 1 February].
However, Besiktas are now thought to have won the race to sign the 27-year-old, and the Forest defender is said to be having a physical before joining the Turkish giants on loan for the rest of the season [The Athletic, 4 February].
Daniel Farke has the ideal Worrall solution at Leeds United in Ethan Ampadu.
While some Leeds United fans will be disappointed that they were unable to improve their defensive options, Farke has demonstrated in recent weeks that he already has the ideal extra defensive option in his team.
Ethan Ampadu has come into the backline alongside Joe Rodon and demonstrated that he is more than capable of being the Whites’ third or fourth centre-back option, with impressive performances against Bristol City and Preston North End.
Against Preston, the Welshman won all six ground duels and three of his four defensive clashes, all while dominating with the ball at his feet, completing 90% of his 71 attempted passes [data via Fotmob].
The 23-year-old is most effective in midfield, but he has demonstrated in the last month that he can step in on the backline if Farke’s side sustains a bunch of injuries.
Throughout the January transfer window, Farke insisted that Leeds could not afford to be “naive” and leave themselves without options.
While some fans may be concerned that they have done just that by passing up Worrall, Ampadu has demonstrated that the Whites have enough talent to secure automatic promotion anyway.
