In just one year, Leeds’ “monster” acquisition of Orta witnessed an increase in value of £8 million.

In just one year, the Whites turned a profit on the center midfielder.

Leeds United was demoted from the Premier League at the end of the previous campaign, and some fans may view the organization’s subpar performance in the transfer market as one of the major contributors to their fall to the Championship.

Who were the most costly signings for Leeds?

The Whites were promoted to the top-flight in 2020, and they bolstered their team with a number of high-priced recruits using their newly acquired resources at the top level.

Transfermarkt fees.

In fact, since their 2020 promotion-winning season, four of the club’s five most expensive additions in club history have occurred in the previous three years.

Victor Orta, a former director of sports, was not afraid to spend big money, but he fell short of creating a team that could carry the organization through the previous season.

The Spanish manager, who joined LaLiga team Sevilla this summer, did not make every deal a failure; instead, he made several excellent additions, like center midfielder Tyler Adams.

What did Leeds spend on Tyler Adams?

The USA international was swiftly acquired by the Whites from Bundesliga team RB Leipzig in the summer of 2022 for a rumored transfer price of £15 million.

Despite a lackluster season with his old team in the German top division, he was recruited to Elland Road. Through 24 league games in the 2021/22 season, the defensive anchor had a Sofascore rating of 6.68 and contributed 1.7 tackles and interceptions per game.

To put that figure into perspective, Adams had lower average Sofascore ratings than 18 other Leipzig players. Throughout the season, he also rated among his colleagues in the top 12 for interceptions and the top 13 for tackles made per game. This demonstrates that the holding midfielder was not one of the club’s top players and had trouble making an impact on games.

Instead of going with Mohamed Camara from Red Bull Salzburg, who had also played for the American head coach, Orta was able to gain his services in order to reconnect him with Jesse Marsch, with whom he had previously collaborated in Germany.

The Mali international reportedly cost €15 million (£12.8 million) to sign with AS Monaco in France after Leeds allegedly failed in a €25 million (£21.4 million) bid for his talents earlier in the transfer window.

The fact that they were unable to get Camara turned out to be a blessing in disguise since they were able to sign Adams for a much lower price, and the USMNT player had a better personal season than the Ligue 1 enforcer.

What kind of work did Adams do for Leeds?

The midfielder put on consistently strong performances in the Premier League, proving that Leeds were right to believe the USA international had the potential to be far better than his Leipzig performances suggested.

Adams had an immediate impact in England and frequently displayed his defensive prowess in the middle of the field while playing with Marc Roca, a former Bayern Munich star.

In 24 top-flight appearances for the Whites during the 2022–23 season, the 24-year-old patroller averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.98 and completed 82% of his attempted passes.

The former Leipzig player, who was able to put up strong performances week in and week out, has the highest average Sofascore rating of any player with at least one start under their credit.

His ability to win possession back for the team was arguably his biggest strength. Adams made an outstanding 5.2 tackles and interceptions per game and won 57% of his duels, as per Sofascore, which shows that he came out on top in the majority of his physical contests.

 

No Leeds player with more than one appearance made more tackles and interceptions per outing and he made 0.8 more tackles each game than any of those teammates. This shows that he was an outstanding presence in midfield with his fantastic defensive quality.

Unfortunately, the central midfielder ended up missing the finale of the campaign as a hamstring injury ruled him out from the 15th of March onwards. This meant that Sam Allardyce, who was the caretaker boss during the run-in, was without the impressive gem’s talents for a number of crucial matches.

Camara, on the other hand, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.82 and made 3.8 tackles and interceptions combined across 29 Ligue 1 outings for Monaco.

Adams happened to rank within the top 3% of his positional peers among the Men’s Big Five Leagues and European competitions for tackles and blocks per 90 respectively over the last 365 days. Whereas, Camara ranked in the bottom 36% or lower in both statistics during that time.

These statistics suggest that the Yorkshire-based outfit struck gold by signing the American dynamo instead of the Mali international due to his higher average performance level and his considerably better defensive contributions as a number six.

How much did Leeds sell Adams for?

Leeds cashed in on the “monster” – as he was dubbed by journalist Kevin Koczwara – during the recent summer transfer window after their relegation to the Championship.

Adams’ performances were good enough to earn him a transfer back to the Premier League as Bournemouth swooped in to secure his services for a reported fee of £23m plus add-ons.

The move to the south coast came after a switch to Stamford Bridge to link up with Mauricio Pochettino failed to materialise.

This shows that Orta struck gold for the Whites as the defensive midfielder’s market value soared by a minimum of £8m, with it remaining to be seen how much the add-ons are worth, in just one year at Elland Road.

He was a standout performer in a poor team last term and should be viewed as a successful signing in spite of the side’s fate as Adams did his job on the pitch and was let down by his teammates, whilst he also made the club a significant profit off the field with his move to the Cherries.

Ortad deserves credit for that signing and supporters may wonder why the Spanish sporting director was not able to unearth more gems like him in recent years, as a few more additions like that could have bolstered their chances of avoiding the drop last season.

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If injuries are resolved and the new partnership settles, Daniel Farke’s strongest Leeds United lineup and subs gallery

Leeds United return to Championship action this weekend following the international break and Daniel Farke is expected to have yet more options available to him.

Jaidon Anthony was bought so late on transfer deadline day that he was not registered in time for Sheffield Wednesday’s visit to Elland Road, while Ilia Gruev was unable to play against Sheffield Wednesday because he was awaiting a VISA appointment. Glen Kamara, who made his Whites debut off the bench in the final game before the break, has played for Finland on the international stage and is getting closer to being fully match-ready despite not playing much for Rangers throughout the preseason.

For Sunday’s game against Millwall, all three players will be evaluated, and Farke expressed optimism that Sam Byram and Daniel James will make their injury comebacks. While Stuart Dallas continues to be the club’s longest-standing absence, Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo, and Liam Cooper may need to wait a little longer to make their individual comebacks.

There is little likelihood that Farke will ever have a fully fit team to pick from; that was not the case with Marcelo Bielsa, Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, or Sam Allardyce. However, what stands out about the current manager’s squad is the depth and true contention for positions in various areas. The competition for the right back, left back, left-sided center-back, and central midfield positions will be exciting if Farke had all of his wide players available.

The process of selecting 20 players from the group as a whole to fill a team sheet is challenging, which contrasts sharply with circumstances that confronted Farke’s predecessors. This season, it’s possible that really strong Championship choices won’t appear at all.

Here is a look at what could well be Farke’s strongest starting XI and replacements bench in the hypothetical ideal world when everyone is healthy and available.