Leeds United have one week of the summer transfer window left to do business following Joel Piroe’s arrival with Nadiem Amiri, Joseph Paintsil, Sonny Perkins coming to the fore

 

 

The final week of the transfer window is upon us and Leeds United are finally seeing the dominoes fall on the aggressive summer they wanted. Joel Piroe’s arrival on Thursday night set a high benchmark the Whites would love to match across the next seven days.

 

 

There could still be three or four names to arrive before September 1’s 11pm deadline. United will not allow their confidence to get out of hand, however, with poachers trying to swoop until the 11th hour of any negotiation.

Even as Piroe drove up to West Yorkshire on Thursday with his partner, he was getting calls from interested parties looking to pull him from Elland Road clutches. Ultimately, he would deliver on the enthusiastic messages he was giving Angus Kinnear and United’s top brass.

 

There was no stomping of feet or unreasonable demands from the Championship sharpshooter, no calls for clauses that would leave Leeds powerless down the line. He told the Whites he wanted to be there and he stuck to his word

The Dutchman will meet with his team-mates today and has his fingers crossed about being available for Saturday’s match at Ipswich Town. The club’s transfer announcement said a work permit and international clearance were being waited on at that point.

 

One player Piroe is unlikely to meet this week is Sonny Perkins. The striker’s arrival has not necessarily put someone of Patrick Bamford’s standing in the shop window, but the 19-year-old has now been cleared for a loanz to Oxford United.

Perkins was never a serious part of Daniel Farke’s plans this summer and recent comments about effort and application in training were telling. The former West Ham United forward has two years left on his Whites contract.

 

The pursuit of reinforcements continues apace. Nadiem Amiri’s name came onto the radar earlier this week and the German playmaker remains of keen interest to the Whites, though, as of Friday lunchtime, he was yet to fly into the UK.

The interesting insight from that pursuit is Amiri’s versatility. The assumption had been the 26-year-old would play exclusively as a number 10 behind a striker like Piroe, but Leeds feel they could use him in the double pivot alongside a more defensive option like Ethan Ampadu.

While Amiri may partly solve the depth issue in central midfield, Joseph Paintsil would only add selection dilemmas to Farke’s plate. The 25-year-old Ghanaian is a right-footed winger who can play off both sides.

After contributing 14 goals and 12 assists in 30 Belgian Pro League outings for Genk last season, Paintsil is hot property. Leeds like him and are offering more than £8.5m, according to Sky Sports and The Athletic.

Any move for the wide man is not currently understood to be imminent in any way, but the interest is there and after a Southampton swap deal fell through, Leeds have emerged as strong contenders. Paintsil would add to a department which already includes Crysencio Summerville, Daniel James, Luis Sinisterra, Georginio Rutter, Ian Poveda and Wilfried Gnonto.

 

If Leeds were to land Paintsil and Amiri, the likelihood is they may look at another central midfielder and full-back before the deadline. Lewis O’Brien and Glen Kamara are midfield names which continue to swirl around without moving forward.

Meanwhile, Djed Spence, available to leave Tottenham Hotspur, would fit the versatile full-back criteria, but interest in his services stretches through the lower reaches of the top flight, across the entirety of the Championship and into Europe too. An excellent option, but immense competition.