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By AADAM PATEL, SPORTS REPORTER Published: 02: 00 AEST, 11 September 2025 | Updated: 02: 37 AEST, 11 September 2025 View comments It was June when Leeds United made a bid of £32million for Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz. At the time, it signalled the intent Leeds fans were expecting when chairman Paraag Marathe said they would spend every ‘last penny’ in their bid for Premier League survival. But instead, it was just part one of Leeds being taken for a ride this summer. Fulham rejected the offer for the Brazilian striker and talks went cold. Come Deadline Day, Leeds were led to believe they were getting the Fulham midfielder Harry Wilson instead but then the Cottagers insisted the 28-year-old wasn’t for sale and told Leeds the deal was off. A day that offered so much promise, after manager Daniel Farke spoke openly and repeatedly about Leeds needing firepower, instead ended embarrassingly for the club chiefs in the boardroom at Elland Road. The official word from within was that it was a ‘bad day at the end of a good window’. This is the story of that window, from one missed opportunity to the next - and how Leeds plan to fix it. Daniel Farke demanded more firepower this summer at Leeds United - he didn't get it Leeds thought they could wrap up deals for Fulham duo Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson - but neither turned out how they wanted Leeds certainly made a strong start after promotion, bringing in seven signings by the end of the pre-season camp in Germany in July for a combined £90m.  But the hierarchy failed in the latter stages. Battling displays against Everton (a 1-0 win) and Newcastle (a 0-0 draw) at home at the start of the new Premier League season showed the side had built solid foundations, but it was clear from those opening games that Leeds needed more quality in the final third. As one local journalist described the situation: ‘It’s like going into a gun fight with a water pistol. ’ With a 5-0 thumping at Arsenal sandwiched between those two impressive home results, it is one goal in three league games so far. In the closing weeks of the window Leeds got Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free and Noah Okafor for £18m from AC Milan, while terminating Patrick Bamford’s contract and allowing Largie Ramazani to leave on loan to Valencia. Calvert-Lewin is a former England international and has two seasons of double-figure Premier League goals on his CV, but also only scored 18 times in all competitions across the last four seasons of his Everton career and has recurrent questions over his ability to stay fit. There are significant questions over the ability of Joel Piroe to convert his excellent numbers in the Championship (73 goals in the last four campaigns for Swansea and Leeds) to the top flight. Former Manchester City starlet Lukas Nmecha, a free transfer from Wolfsburg this summer, has the lone Premier League goal of Leeds' campaign so far (from the penalty spot), but has not come close to adding to it. After the draw with Newcastle, Farke insisted it would be ‘difficult’ to stay up if they didn’t add to the squad. It was his second warning shot, having said after the pre-season friendly against AC Milan in Dublin that 'we are not prepared for a long Premier League season'. Lukas Nmecha's penalty handed Leeds victory on their return to the top flight against Everton Dominic Calvert-Lewin has not lit up the scoring charts for some time, and there are persistent questions about his ability to stay fit The board are aware of the disappointment from sections of the fanbase but publicly insist that more arrivals would have led to the outgoing of a core player with high resale value. Daily Mail Sport understands that Farke was naturally disappointed but agreed the end of the window was a blip and was content with the overall business done. Incomings are expected in January even though managing director Robbie Evans had said Leeds’ goal is to ‘avoid January, if possible’. Attention has shifted to the recruitment team, with Marathe, Evans and Farke the decision-makers alongside Adam Underwood, in his first summer as sporting director, and Alex Davies, head of recruitment. Both Underwood and Davies have come through the ranks at the club and they have been tested. Credit is due for their early business but there are big questions to be answered. Leeds were played by Feyenoord and the Brazilian winger Igor Paixao, who wanted to go to Marseille all along but used Leeds’ bid of north of £30m to drive his price up. Quickly, things had gone quiet at the player’s end and Leeds began to read the writing on the wall. Their offer of £27. 7m plus £2. 6m in add-ons was good enough, but it seems Marseille eventually got close enough to that for Feyenoord to give them the green light too.   The 25-year-old, who lit up the Eredivisie last season with 16 goals and 10 assists, has missed the start of this campaign regardless, as he nurses his way back from a 'significant muscle injury' in pre-season training. And then, for a third act, Leeds were also given the runaround by Facundo Buonanotte, who chose a loan move to Chelsea instead at the last minute even though a flight was booked to West Yorkshire and a medical was scheduled. That left Leeds desperately trying to get Wilson in, but to no avail. Staggeringly, Illan Meslier is still at the club despite now effectively being the fourth-choice goalkeeper and has had the No 1 shirt stripped away from him, following a shaky promotion campaign that saw him dropped mid-season for Karl Darlow. Illan Meslier is still in the fold at Elland Road despite being fourth-choice in Farke's pecking order Facundo Buonanotte had a flight booked to West Yorkshire to undergo a medical with Leeds - then chose a loan move to Chelsea instead In terms of outgoings, only attacking midfielder Sam Greenwood has left for a fee, to Polish side Pogon Szczecin - and that was just £3. 5m. That said, the hierarchy believe that with 10 incomings and more than £100m spent, Farke has been well backed. Evans fronted up to media after the transfer window shut to provide clarity - but only ended up adding to the confusion. Evans said Leeds had ‘unequivocally maxed out PSR’ and ‘spent everything they could’ while admitting they tried to buy Wilson, who they saw as a winger that could also play No 10. ‘On the one hand, you’d like to tick every single box, ’ he said. ‘But at the end of the day, the 24 guys we woke up with versus the 25 we could have had will probably only incrementally change our odds long term in our goal of staying up. ' Leeds have made a decent start to the season - they won’t lose sleep over a hammering at Arsenal, as that won't define whether they can be the first promoted team in three years to stay up - but Farke knows from experience that all it takes is a bad run of results for the grumbles to start. Fortunately, Leeds do not play any of last season's top eight again until November, though Tottenham, 17th last year but very much revitalised under Thomas Frank this season, come to Elland Road on October 4. But there are plenty of winnable games to seize upon before the nightmare run of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool in the space of a week heading into December, then Liverpool again, Manchester United and Newcastle at the turn of the year. If there is any solace at all to be gainful from a painful penalty shootout exit in the Carabao Cup at Hillsborough last month, it is that Leeds will not have any distractions (as nice of a distraction as a cup run is) from the league campaign.   Calvert-Lewin was one of three Leeds players to miss from the spot against Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup second round At Elland Road, they are yet to concede and it remains one of the toughest grounds to visit in the country. They haven’t lost there in the league for a year. But Leeds will also be one of the toughest teams to watch simply because it remains to be seen where the goals will come from. A lack of creativity means they need to utilise their height and strength, and they are in the process of hiring a new set-piece coach to maximise that. The way these things work out, Leeds of course travel to Fulham this weekend where they will come up against both Muniz and Wilson.  As the old saying goes, ‘here’s what you could have won’.

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