Leeds now have doubts about signing £2.5m midfielder likened to Bellingham

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Leeds United reportedly have reservations about signing Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka as the Championship outfit search for at least one new midfielder before this week’s transfer deadline. 

After talks with Bayer Leverkusen’s Nadiem Amiri collapsed, with Norwich rejecting their Kenny McLean offer, and with a deal for Rangers misfit Glen Kamara not quite progressing as expected, the identity of Leeds United’s new midfielder is anyone’s guess. 

Will it be Kamara? Will it be Werder Bremen’s Ilia Gruev, perhaps? Daniel Farke is a fan of the £4 million-rated Bulgaria international, and Gruev was conspicuous by his absence from training on Wednesday as Werder confirm talks over a move away. 

And what about Ao Tanaka? A player who, according to BILD, was the subject of an offer from Leeds a few days ago.

Leeds United have doubts about Ao Tanaka

Suggestions that an injury suffered in training have scuppered Tanaka’s Elland Road switch have been played down. But there could be another – rather more intriguing – reason why Tanaka might not be on his way to West Yorkshire after all, despite being available for a fee in the region of just £2.5 million. 

According to Sky Germany, Leeds have ‘considered’ Tanaka. But they are ‘not entirely convinced of the player’s qualities’. Fortuna Dusseldorf would like to sell before the window closes. But, after West Ham and Fulham decided to look elsewhere, Leeds may now take a similar decision. 

Exactly why Leeds appear to have gone cold on the 19-time Japan international has not yet been reported. Perhaps Farke wants a player more au fait with the gruelling Championship schedule. Leeds made a £4 million offer for McLean. They were also eyeing up Nottingham Forest’s former Huddersfield Town dynamo Lewis O’Brien. 

Tanaka, interestingly, was likened to one Jude Bellingham by the Bundesliga website; his box-to-box running power and his all-round skillset making the Kawasaki-born enforcer one of the most complete midfielders in Germany’s second tier.