Leeds United have proven they are more than capable of playing Premier League football and there is growing confidence they can sign a statement signing at Elland Road in January.
Leeds advance with important win against West Ham
Daniel Farke has doubts in the top flight and there will always be some reservations after his last divisional appearance at Norwich City. But there is no doubt that he has made Los Blancos a team that is competitive at the highest level.
With 11 points from nine games, Leeds feel well-placed to start after Friday’s much-needed win against West Ham United, which could be symbolic in some ways as the Hammers slide further into the bottom of the table.
In any case, the road is long and no one will be ahead of you. However, Farke praised his players for their determination to secure the three points in front of a raucous home crowd against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.
“First of all, we’re happy to get the three points. It’s hard to explain how we got there after the last three games with one point. We were much more dominant and controlled our performance. We’ve had a difficult week in terms of sickness and injury.”
“It’s been a difficult week for us. You could feel it. We showed passion and courage. In the last 20 minutes you could feel it was a difficult week. Great fighting spirit, will and passion to get over the line.”
Leeds could make a move for Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Issoufou Sissoko in January and may look to his performance in Champions League qualifying as an indicator of his potential.
With the engine room a key priority, Falke and others are now said to be growing confident of signing an experienced international midway through the season.
Leeds could sign Piotr Zielinski in January
Leeds are hoping to sign Inter Milan midfielder Piotr Zielinski in January, with the Serie A giants now “definitely” open to allowing him to leave, according to Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke.
The reporter said: “He has been linked with a move to Leeds in the summer and has also been linked with a number of other midfielders. He has fallen well down the pecking order at the San Siro. He has struggled to get into games, starting just two Champions League games and has not started a Serie A game.”
Piotr Zielinski’s performance at Inter Milan | |
|---|---|
Appearance | 47 |
the goal | 2 |
assist | 4 |
“There is no doubt that Inter would be willing to let him leave in order to save money and increase their own transfer window. It remains to be seen whether Zielinski can be sold to Leeds. He is now 31 years old but we feel he still has a lot to offer and the player himself would be interested in a January move in search of first-team regularity. If they don’t get that at Inter then they will probably look for a move.”
According to Fotmob, despite struggling to get into the starting lineup this season, the Poland international has managed to create three chances in 167 minutes in the Champions League, showing he is capable of causing danger.
His £139,000-a-week wage is high, but it won’t be out of the Whites’ budget, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Zielinski moved to Elland Road.
