If Daniel Farke is relieved of his duties soon by the 49ers regime, how will he be remembered among the die-hard Leeds United fanbase?
First and foremost, there will likely always be some fondness towards the German from the Elland Road faithful for being the manager who delivered a promotion back up to the Premier League, having collected the Championship title on a mighty 100 points.
But, in the here and now, that title success – and the subsequent parade that merrily went through Leeds city centre – feels like a lifetime ago, with the ex-Norwich City boss continuing to struggle in the Premier League as a head coach.
A change could soon come then, with the Whites now five defeats from their last six league games and stuck in 18th spot.
Unfortunately, though, Leeds haven’t always got it right when getting right of celebrated promotion winners in the past, with Marcelo Bielsa’s replacement coming in the form of Jesse Marsch, who could only muster up a weak 11 wins from the pressurised dug out.
On top of that, his track record in the transfer department left a lot to be desired when he was situated in West Yorkshire, with all of his hits, followed by a large list of poor misses.
1. Georginio Rutter
£35.5m
Marsch
2. Brenden Aaronson
£28.5m
Marsch
3. Rodrigo
£26m
Bielsa
4. Dan James
£25m
Bielsa
5. Luis Sinisterra
£21m
Marsch
Ranking Marsch's signings at Leeds
Amazingly, Marsch would sign off on Leeds’ two most expensive captures of all time during his whirlwind 12-month stint in England.
Georginio Rutter never really kicked into gear at the Whites under the unpopular American’s management, but considering he managed to put away eight goals and 18 assists in the end, largely under Farke, he is definitely seen as a success story, having also banked Leeds £40m when he moved to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Another standout success story from Marsch’s spending is Wilfried Gnonto, even if he is not now a regular under the current regime.
Landing the tricky Italian for just £3.8m continues to stand out to his day as an almighty bargain, with the ex-FC Zurich attacker even managing to star under Marsch, when collecting three goals from just 12 games under his methods, which included this fierce effort being thumped home.
Unfortunately for Marsch, this is where his positives in the transfer department begin to dry up, with a vast majority of the ten other signings made under his short-lived tenure no longer at the club.
Luis Sinisterra would at least manage to bag a promising five league goals at Elland Road, to somewhat justify the lavish £21m dropped on his services, but much like Tyler Adams, Rasmus Kristensen, and Marc Roca who all joined the Leeds ranks together at the same time, this wave of disappointing pick-ups couldn’t leave the building any faster after relegation was confirmed.
Weston McKennie has also left a bad taste in the mouth up to the present as a failed loanee under Marsch, with the American midfielder registering just one forgettable assist from 20 appearances, which led to the ex-Juventus man labelling the short stint as one of the “lowest” points of his varied career.
The elephant in the room now is, of course, the fact that the current Canada boss was the figure who first brought Brenden Aaronson to English shores, with the former £28.5m purchase a constant source of frustration.
Marsch couldn’t quite get a tune out of the ex-Union Berlin man, despite working closely alongside him at RB Leipzig, with just one sorry goal all he could muster up, before his fellow compatriot’s dismissal.
Thankfully, Farke has managed to get the best out of the 25-year-old in flashes, particularly in the Championship. Yet, with just one goal and one assist all he wrote this season in the Premier League so far, the consensus will be that Leeds overpaid back in 2022 when securing the hit-and-miss playmaker’s services for £28.5m.
25/26
13
1 + 1
24/25
47
9 + 2
Still, Aaronson does have his nine strikes to fall back on during Leeds’ phenomenal promotion journey.
Whereas this summer recruit has little to cling onto, as he already looks to be an even bigger waste of money than Aaronson’s much-talked-about arrival.
Leeds have made a bigger error than Aaronson
Much like the West Yorkshire giants showed off during Marsch’s reign, significant wads of cash were also dropped in the off-season to try and prepare Leeds for the gigantic leap up to the Premier League.
A position that was in dire need of upgrading was definitely in between the sticks, with Illan Meslier overstaying his welcome as Leeds’ number one goalkeeper by the time a top-flight return was officially clinched, having become error-prone during the Whites’ vital promotion run-in.
Therefore, Leeds must have thought they’d hit the jackpot when they secured the services of Lucas Perri for a substantial £13.9m, with the Brazilian ‘stopper previously being tipped to be one of the “best in the world” in his position by his former manager Paulo Fonseca.
However, the top-flight newcomers have yet to see the calm and assured version of Perri that regularly shone for Lyon – with ten clean sheets falling into his lap last season in Ligue 1 – with the South American receiving plenty of pelters, instead, particularly when he conceded this Morgan Rogers free-kick last time out, as he bizarrely remained rooted to his spot.
Off the back of leaking this effort from Rogers, Perri has now given up a costly eight goals across his string of depressing clashes in November, with the underlying numbers overall – away from just goals conceded – also pointing in the direction of the number one being a colossal waste of cash.
Indeed, it’s unclear now if Leeds have even upgraded on a wobbly Meslier, with Meslier arguably a better option at this point, with his 21 clean sheets in the tough division to date an impressive tally, weighed up next to Perri’s two so far.
The drop-off from his standout Ligue 1 campaign last season is also extremely worrying, with Perri averaging a 74% pass accuracy in the French top division, compared to him now regularly mis-hitting passes, at a far lesser average of 57%.
Of course, the defenders do have to share their load of the blame here for the recent porous displays, but the backline cannot be confident whatsoever, having a ropey Perri behind them, with ex-Leeds player Jon Newsome rightly suggesting that Farke and the 49ers had “wasted funds” after the demoralising 3-1 defeat at the City Ground.
In another reality, Leeds might well have been better sticking with what they had over splashing £13.9m on Perri, with Aaronson at least putting in bright performances here and there this season, while the new ‘keeper has routinely suffered.
Indeed, one Leeds content creator would even hail his showing against West Ham United as “his best in a Leeds shirt”, with eight duels won against the Hammers, standing him in good stead for any relegation scrap that comes, away from also firing an effort home.
The relegation-threatened side would have hoped they’d moved past notable blunders in the transfer department when Marsch left the building, but it looks as if Perri could now be seen in the same light as failed faces such as Sinisterra and Adams down the line, particularly if relegation is grimly served up and the Whites struggle to offload him.
Leeds in one of the biggest transfer battles of all time for England midfielder
He could add so much quality and bite to the midfield.
ByHenry Jackson