Have Leeds United discovered a replacement for Rudolph Austin in Tom Adeyemi?

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Leeds United have struck a deal to sign Tom Adeyemi from Cardiff City.

Leeds United have struck a deal to sign Tom Adeyemi from Cardiff City, report Wales Online.

Adeyemi will sign on a season long loan deal, and rejoin former boss Uwe Rosler, who he played under at Brentford for a short spell.

The midfielder will help provide cover with Luke Murphy suffering a knee injury expected to keep him out of the opening weeks of the season, but may have an important place in the squad to fill apart from that.

Leeds took the decision to release former captain Rodolph Austin this summer, and had not so far acted to replace him.

Adeyemi possesses similar physical traits to the Jamaican, both over 6ft, athletic, a box-to-box midfielder, with leadership skills, a former Birmingham City vice-captain.

So how do they compare?

After an excellent year at Birmingham City in 2013/14 in which he was voted the club’s young player of the year, Adeyemi struggled to make an impact after signing for Cardiff City.

Austin bettered him last season in a number of statistical departments, yet in each game averaged 24 minutes extra playing time.

Leeds are signing a player with the ability to go on and better Austin in the long run, who recently turned 30, while in bringing in a player seven years his junior, they are potentially getting a bargain on a year’s loan.

Adeyemi will be expected to bring more to the table at Leeds than he could at Cardiff last year, but he will also wish to get a fair crack on the field, and play substantially more than just 50 minutes per game if he is to show what he is really capable of.

He has the potential to emulate Austin, but needs to show on the pitch he is capable of replacing the veteran and can bounce back mentally from a disappointing campaign.