Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke will be hoping to maintain his record of never going more than two seasons without a promotion from the Championship.
The German tactician won the second tier title in two of his three campaigns with Norwich City earlier in his career and is now in his second term in charge at Elland Road.
A defeat to Southampton at Wembley in the play-off final back in May, thanks to a strike from Adam Armstrong, stopped the manager from achieving promotion at the first time of asking.
His side finished third in the Championship during the regular season, just shy of Ipswich Town and Leicester City in the automatic promotion places, before beating Norwich in the semi-finals and losing to the Saints in the play-off final.
Farke was backed by the 49ers in the transfer market last summer as they allowed him to sign the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Joel Piroe, Ilia Gruev, and Glen Kamara to bolster his options across the park.
The German boss decided that he needed attacking reinforcements to add more of a goal threat to his side and the 49ers opted to snap up Piroe from Swansea.
Joel Piroe's form for Leeds
The Dutch forward was brought in from the Swans for a reported fee of £12m after he had racked up an eye-catching 46 goals in 96 appearances for the Welsh outfit.
He arrived at Elland Road as a proven Championship goalscorer, with 22 and 19 goals in the division in his two seasons with Swansea, and Leeds paid a sizeable fee to reflect that.
Unfortunately, Piroe’s goalscoring record took a hit in his first season in West Yorkshire. The left-footed attacker ended the campaign with a return of 13 goals and three assists in 45 appearances in the Championship.
This shows that he did not reach the same levels that he did during his two years in Wales, as he did not get near 20 goals in the league, whilst he also rarely provided quality as a creative threat.
The 25-year-old striker, who has also been deployed as an attacking midfielder by Farke, has started the 2024/25 season with one goal in five appearances in the second tier.
Appearances
5
Goals
1
Assists
1
Pass accuracy
70%
Ground duel success rate
36%
Aerial duel success rate
0%
Overall, Piroe has racked up 15 goals and four assists in 55 appearances for Leeds in all competitions since his £12m move from Swansea last year.
This shows that the centre-forward has not provided a reliable source of goals or assists for the Whites since his big-money move from Swansea.
Whilst the 49ers ultimately secured a deal to sign Piroe to bolster Farke’s attack last summer, the German head coach was reportedly interested in another forward, who has since flourished in Europe.
Leeds wanted Viktor Gyokeres
It was reported in the summer of 2023 that Leeds were battling it out with Portuguese giants Sporting to sign Coventry City centre-forward Viktor Gyokeres.
However, it was also claimed that it would be a very difficult deal for the Yorkshire-based outfit to get over the line, as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and Sporting could offer European football.
Farke wanted to bring the Sweden international to Elland Road to improve his attacking options after his impressive season in the second tier with Mark Robins’ side.
Appearances
46
Goals
21
Big chances created
9
Assists
10
Key passes per game
2.1
As you can see in the table above, the Swedish sensation caught the eye with his contributions as both a scorer and a creator of goals, with 31 goal contributions in 46 outings.
He helped the Sky Blues to reach the play-off final, which they lost on penalties to Luton Town, and their failure to earn promotion ultimately led to his move away from the CBS Arena.
Unfortunately, however, Leeds were unable to win the race for his signature as Sporting swooped to sign him for an initial fee of £17.5m, just over £5m more than the Whites ended up paying to snap up Piroe from Swansea later that summer.
Victor Gyokeres' current market value
Gyokeres recently confirmed, via Fabrizio Romano, that his release clause at Sporting is valued at a staggering €100m (£84m), which means that the Portuguese side could make a gigantic profit on the £17.5m they paid for the forward if that clause is activated.
When you consider the 26-year-old ace’s form over the last 13 months or so, it is easy to see why the club have placed a clause with that value in his contract, especially amid reported interest from Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea during the recent summer transfer window.
The former Coventry star has produced a stunning 51 goals and 18 assists in 58 appearances in all competitions for Sporting since the start of last season, after a return of 43 in 116 for the Sky Blues.
Appearances
38
50
xG
30.82
13.54
Goals
37
14
Assists
11
4
Big chances created
13
3
As you can see in the table above, Gyokeres has significantly outperformed Piroe as both a scorer and a creator of goals over the last 13 months at league level.
The 26-year-old sensation has been prolific for Sporting, with 37 goals in 38 league matches, and clinical, outperforming his xG by just under seven goals.
These statistics show that Gyokeres has been a sensational signing, which is backed up by his market value and the quality of teams interested in bringing him back to England, for the Portuguese side.
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Therefore, the 49ers may look back on last summer with regret as they were unable to land the striker for Farke, possibly due to his unwillingness to stay in the Championship or because of their reluctance to pay £17.5m for his services, although it remains unknown as to the exact reason why they went for Piroe instead.