Leeds United may not have two broad options when they face off against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League this weekend.
Coach Daniel Fark revealed that both Willfried Gunnont and Daniel James may not be able to participate in a trip to Molyneu Stadium.
This means that unless the German boss decides to go with Jack Harrison ahead of USA International, it appears that Brenden Arsonson will likely keep his place on his right flank.
The American flop, a trade-attacking midfielder, scored one goal in 40 appearances in his Premier League career per sofa score, but the British winger scored one goal and failed to provide assistance on his first 37 field trips in the division since the start of last season.
These statistics aren’t great reading and do not suggest that Aaronson or Harrison is likely to come up with a magical moment to win the Leeds and Wolf games this weekend.
The whites have also not scored goals since open play in the Premier League this season. Some of them may have lost the fact that Igor Paichao could not land due to a lack of quality.
Why Leeds couldn’t sign Igor Paicau
Leeds placed a £30.5 million offer on the Brazilian forwards table during the summer transfer period, but only refused the attacker to go to Elland Road to sign Marseille.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Feynord was willing to accept the offer of the club at Pixao.
Unfortunately for Leeds and Fark, the attacker on the left chose to sign Marseille.
It was an annoying blow for the Championship champions that he missed Pixao as he could be an exciting addition to his team after an impressive campaign in the Netherlands.
The 25-year-old star, who is in a major year of his career, has scored 18 goals and 14 assists in all competitions for Feyenord, according to Sofa Scole.
24/25 eredivisie | Igor’s passion | Percentile Rank vs Winger |
|---|---|---|
xg | 10.56 | Top 2% |
Target xg | 16.25 | Top 2% |
the goal | 16 | Top 2% |
Target shot | 43 | Top 2% |
Shah | 6.71 | Top 4% |
Possibility of being created | 70 | Top 1% |
assist | 10 | Top 3% |
Statistics via FOTMOB | ||
As you can see in the table above, Pyxao was one of the most productive forwards on the Netherlands top flight, making his contributions as both a scorer and a goal creator.
Given the conflict this weekend and the options Farke currently has at his disposal on how the games so far this season have gone, missing out on Paixao has been a big blow to the whites.
But Leeds was brewing his version of Pikes, and potentially the next Rafina, on Luggie Ramazani’s Eland Road, before Fark abandoned him in the summer window.
Why was Ramazani a Pykao of Leeds United?
The Belgian winger may have been a hybrid of both Paicau and Rafina in West Yorkshire, rather than allowing the club to keep him and lend him out his development in the UK.
Of course, supporters remember how exciting Rafina was when Leeds was last in the Premier League after the move from Rennes in 2020.
Well, Ramazani played for Lariga at the same time as Brazil International in the 2023/24 campaign and was statistically listed as a similar player by FBREF. The Almeria star at the time averaged 0.33 XAG per 90 compared to the Brazilian’s 0.38 XAG per 90.
After a promising form in Lariga, Almeria, Ramazani completed a £10 million move to Elland Road in the summer of 2024 and signed Leeds at the championship.
The left-handed attacker called “weapons” to fight back against Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, only started seven games in tier 2 during the 2024/25 campaign, but offered six goals and two assists on the white pitch.
24/25 Championship | Ragie Ramazani of 90 | Percentile Rank vs Winger |
|---|---|---|
Non-penalty xg | 0.54 | Top 2% |
Target shot | 1.84 | Top 2% |
the goal | 0.69 | Top 2% |
assist | 0.23 | Top 20% |
Possibility of being created | 1.50 | Top 32% |
The dribbling is complete | 2.07 | Top 15% |
Statistics via FOTMOB | ||
As you can see in the table above, Ramazani was ranked very highly in his positioning peers for goals and assists when filtered into metrics per 90 persons.
Boased by these performances in the championship, FBREF has listed Paixao as one of the players most similar to Belgian forwards over the past 365 days, based on statistics per 90.
The chart above shows that the £10 million Leeds is better than the Brazilians in many statistics, but it is worth adding that while Paixao is a regular starter for Feyenoord, he has only started seven games.
But what these statistics show is that Leeds had an exciting left winger comparable to both Rafinha and Paicau, but they allowed him to leave the loan.
This seems stranger decision from passing game to each passing game, especially when you consider Ramazani already has open play assists in two appearances for Lariga’s Valencia.
Therefore, the white man must regret abandoning him in the summer window. Because even if it’s on loan, it offers quality that provides offensive sparks in the last third, like Rafina and Paicau.
