Sport nationNadiem Amiri claims Leeds were desperate to sign him but he couldn’t imagine Elland Road movePhoto by Alex Burstow/Getty Images
Nadiem Amiri claims Leeds were desperate to sign him but he couldn’t imagine Elland Road move
Leeds United have missed out on a fair few targets during Daniel Farke’s two transfer windows in charge.
Alongside new appointments Nick Hammond, Gretar Steinsson and Jordan Miles, Farke has taken a real responsibility on player recruitment since being named Leeds’ manager last July.
After losing a number of first team players in the wake of relegation, Leeds brought in nine new players last summer in order to rebuild the squad, with Connor Roberts the sole arrival in January.
On the whole, Leeds’ recruitment has been good under the new regime with the likes of Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon representing superb pieces of business.
That said, Leeds did miss out on a couple of key targets such as Gustavo Hamer and Nadiem Amiri, which has undoubtedly left them short in the number 10 department this season.
Amiri claims Farke was desperate to sign him but couldn’t imagine Leeds move
Hamer was Leeds’ top midfield target before he ended up joining newly promoted Sheffield United, while Amiri was an out-and-out number 10 Farke really wanted at the end of the window.
Leeds actually agreed a deal with Bayer Leverkusen to sign Amiri, but that was just the start of one of the biggest sagas of the club’s summer.
If reports in Germany were believed, Amiri changed his mind on whether he actually wanted a move to Leeds on various occasions, but in an interview with Watson, he has now claimed that was not true.
Daniel Farke simply must start £3.8m Leeds player on Saturday, 26-year-old has not been good enough
Daniel Farke simply must start £3.8m Leeds player on Saturday, 26-year-old has not been good enough – opinion
Leeds United News
Amiri admitted he did fly over to Leeds in order to take a look at what the club could offer, but was never overly convinced due to ‘family reasons’, and so he stayed in Germany.
He said: “Leeds really wanted me. They made me a brutal offer and asked me to just take a look at everything on site. But I couldn’t really imagine it, especially for family reasons. When I was there, I was supposed to sign straightaway that day, even though it wasn’t agreed upon.
“A lot of what you read in the media afterwards wasn’t true. There was not back and forth with the acceptances and rejections, I was clear about that from the start.
“It was disappointing that afterwards everyone thought I was the bogeyman – it shows that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that the public doesn’t even notice, and in the business, people sometimes forget that we are people and not commodities.”
Amiri could’ve been the no.10 Leeds really needed
The number 10 spot has undoubtedly been a position Leeds have struggled with all season, and it is actually the reason for a lot of dropped points.
- FSV Mainz 05 v VfL Bochum 1848 – Bundesliga
Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images
So many teams have been happy to sit back and soak up pressure against the Whites, and Farke’s side just haven’t had that central player able to unlock the door.
Joel Piroe spent most of the first half of the season there and contributed with goals, but never looked overly comfortable. Georginio Rutter has enjoyed some good games there since his positional switch in January, but does lose the ball a lot in that area.
Amiri is very much the type of number 10 who likes to get on the ball and create things with his passing, and so could’ve been the ideal player for Farke. Ultimately, though, things don’t always work out.
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