Leeds United failed with a £3.2 million bid for Ao Tanaka over the summer with Fortuna Dusseldorf coach Daniel Thioune delighted to keep his Japan international out of the clutches of the Championship challengers.
Nadiem Amiri is not the only German-based midfielder Leeds United tried and failed to sign before the close of the transfer window on September 1st.
Leeds, according to BILD, submitted a £3.2 million bid for Ao Tanaka before turning their attention to Rangers’ Glen Kamara and Werder Bremen’s Ilia Gruev.
And, while Amiri has been left out of Bayer Leverkusen’s 25-man European squad, Tanaka is now facing his own set of challenges, playing only 20 minutes in Fortuna Dusseldorf’s last two Bundesliga.2 matches.
Leeds United made Ao Tanaka bid
The international break, then, could hardly have come at a better time for the one-time Kawasaki Frontale man. Tanaka scored off the bench in that 4-1 obliteration of Germany – a result which brought about the end for Hansi Flick – before captaining Japan to another swaggering victory on Tuesday, this time against Turkey.
Whether Tanaka can now force his way back into the Fortuna XI when club football resumes this weekend remains to be seen. Fortuna travel to Hansa Rostock on Saturday. Some relieved comments coach Thioune certainly suggest that better days are coming for Tanaka at the Merkur Spiel-Arena
“He is here. How long he is going to stay here is probably not only his decision. Otherwise, he might have moved on,” Thioune tells the Rheinische Post.
“I’m happy (he stayed).”
Likened to Jude Bellingham
An all-action midfielder who’s box-to-box tendencies have drawn comparisons with Jude Bellingham; Tanaka had also been tipped to take the now-Real Madrid star’s place at Borussia Dortmund before the window closed.
“We don’t necessarily want to get rid of Ao,” adds Fortuna director Klaus Alloffs. “It was his wish to change (clubs) and to play top-flight football. Thus, to secure his place in the national team. But that couldn’t be realised.”
The good news is that, handed the captain’s armband by Japan boss Hajima Moriyasu, life in the second-tier appears unlikely to scupper Tanaka’s international prospects.
Tanaka now has 21 caps for his country. More are likely to come, if he can maintain his current rate of progress.
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