Leeds United have been given a sobering reminder of the step up in quality from the Championship to the Premier League by watching some recent transfer sagas unfold.
Liverpool officially confirmed the permanent signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported fee that could rise to a British-record £116m on Friday.
Whereas, the Whites have never spent more than £35.5m to sign a player. Their current record stands at the £35.5m they paid to sign Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim at the start of 2023.
Rutter scored eight goals and provided 18 assists in 66 matches for the West Yorkshire outfit before he completed a move to Brighton & Hove Albion last summer.
Leeds are in the market to sign a central midfielder to bolster their squad this summer, amid interest in Strasbourg’s Habib Diarra and Club Brugge’s Raphael Onyedika.
They have been shown how much the top midfielders in the Premier League go for, though, as Arsenal are set to sign Martin Zubimendi from Spanish side Real Sociedad for a reported fee of £56m.
Leeds United's current midfield options
At this moment in time, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev, and Ao Tanaka are Daniel Farke’s only senior central midfield options ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, after Joe Rothwell returned to Bournemouth and Josuha Guilavogui was released at the end of his contract.
Ampadu has often been utilised as a centre-back option by the German head coach, which could leave Gruev and Tanaka as the two midfielders in his 4-2-3-1 system if the Wales international slots into the back four.
There are question marks over whether those two midfielders have the physicality to compete week-in-week-out in a relegation scrap in the Premier League, however, due to their form in the past.
Prior to their respective moves to Elland Road, both Gruev and Tanaka played in Germany, in the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, and showed signs that they may not be able to handle the step up in physicality to the Premier League.
Appearances
31
30
Pass accuracy
87%
89%
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.1
2.0
Ground duel success rate
53%
49%
Aerial duel success rate
43%
49%
As you can see in the table above, they both left a bit to be desired physically in the top two divisions in Germany, particularly when it came to competing in aerial battles.
This may be why the Whites are keen to add more physicality to their midfield by bringing in a new option in that area of the park, and they are now reportedly interested in a new target in that position.
Leeds eyeing deal for Ligue 1 enforcer
According to GIVEMESPORT, Leeds United are lining up a deal to sign Stade de Reims defensive midfielder Valentin Atangana during the summer transfer window.
The report claims that the Whites have set their sights on the talented 19-year-old enforcer, whose team were relegated to the second division in France this season.
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GIVEMESPORT adds that the Championship champions are keen to do their business as early as possible, and that the French starlet has emerged as one of the options on their radar in their pursuit of a new central midfielder.
The outlet states that the Whites are keen to win the race to secure his services this summer after they were made aware that he is set to be available in the market because of Reims’ relegation to Ligue 2.
It also forwards a suggestion that the player could be available for a bargain price of around £9m, as Reims look to rake in money after dropping out of Ligue 1.
The report also claims that Leeds are now weighing up whether or not to enter negotiations over a deal to bring the teenage talent to West Yorkshire before the end of the window.
Why Leeds should sign Valentin Atangana
The Whites should approach Reims to do a deal for the 19-year-old star because he could arrive as Farke’s own version of Zubimendi, who is set to join Arsenal for £56m, to bolster the physicality in his midfield.
As per FBref, the Spain international is one of the most similar players to Atangana based on their respective statistics in Ligue 1 and LaLiga over the past 365 days.
As you can see in the chart above, they both excel in fairly similar areas of the game, particularly defensively, with a similar success rate in tackles and aerial battles.
Zubimendi ended the LaLiga season with a ground duel success rate of 56% and an aerial battle success rate of 62%, whilst Atangana won 53% of his ground duels and 58% of his aerial battles in Ligue 1 for Reims.
The France U19 international, who was hailed as “exceptional” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, caught the eye in the French top-flight from a defensive perspective, despite his team being relegated.
He was playing in a poor team, hence their relegation, but still showcased his physicality and quality. A great example is his performance against PSG in the Coupe de France final, as he won seven of his nine duels and completed all three of his dribbles against the likes of Joao Neves and Vitinha, but his side lost 3-0.
Clearances
2.02
Top 19%
Aerial duels won
1.48
Top 8%
Percentage of dribblers tackled
73.7%
Top 2%
Challenges lost
0.32
Top 2%
Shots blocked
0.47
Top 14%
Interceptions
1.17
Top 33%
Dispossessed
0.73
Top 23%
As you can see in the table above, Atangana ranked highly among his positional peers in a host of key defensive metrics in Ligue 1, particularly when it came to winning aerial duels and holding off opposition players.
He rarely allowed dribblers to get past him, as shown by his success rate in tackles and how few challenges he lost, and was rarely dispossessed by opposition midfielders, which speaks to his strength in possession.
The teenage talent could, therefore, be Farke’s own version of Zubimendi as a defensive midfielder who has shown that he can be reliable in physical contests and secure in possession under pressure in one of Europe’s top leagues.
To sign a 19-year-old talent who has already proven his quality in the French top-flight, and is comparable to £56m-rated Zubimendi, for just £9m could be a shrewd move by Leeds, and one they must pursue in the coming weeks.
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1 ByDan EmeryJun 19, 2025