Leeds United is vying for an automatic spot in the Premier League upon their debut in the Championship this year.
With 20 games remaining to contend for a top two slot, the Whites are now seventh points behind Ipswich Town in second place in the table.
Having won two Championship titles with Norwich City, German strategist Daniel Farke came to Elland Road with an incredible record in this league.
His team has lost an incredible 17 points, though, to league leaders Leicester City, who have won an incredible 21 of their 26 games.
Leeds has struggled to break through low barriers and has only won two of their last six games. During that span, they have scored twice in games against Sunderland, West Brom, Preston, and Coventry combined.
Now that the January transfer window is open, Farke may bolster his team’s inventiveness in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of the difficulties he faced in the second part of the season.
Transfer news for Leeds – David Brooks
In light of this, the former Borussia Monchengladbach manager needs to move quickly to recruit David Brooks, an attacker from Bournemouth who has the potential to become the manager’s replacement for Todd Cantwell.
According to a recent report by TalkSPORT reporter Alex Crooks, Leeds and Southampton are considering making a move to demote the Wales international back to the Championship.
It is rumored that they are both vying for a loan agreement so they can add the gifted wizard to their teams before the window closes.
Speaking in real time on talkSPORT (December 29) via LeedsAllOver, Crooks asserted that the Whites are organizing a busy month of activities in order to maximize their chances of making an early return to the elite division.
The technically skilled gem hasn’t played much for the Cherries this season, so he might be looking to go out on loan to play regular games, he continued.
It was disclosed by Angus Kinnear back in October 2023 that Farke would have access to cash in January in the event that it was determined that the team needed to be strengthened.
Along with pointing out that the team still had loan spaces open, the Leeds CEO stated that the club’s pursuit of a temporary contract for Brooks was appropriate.
Now, in order to get the Bournemouth treasure to Yorkshire before the end of the month, it is up to Nick Hammond and Farke to secure a deal.
After receiving the all-clear in May 2022 after being diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021, Brooks has had a terrible couple of years.
He is currently working to return to his peak, and Leeds may be able to provide him with a regular football playing opportunity at a level where he has already shown his abilities.
Farke Brooks has been able to bring the best out of Todd Cantwell in the Championship. Cantwell was an excellent wide attacker and offensive midfielder for Brooks when they played together at Norwich.
As an emerging academy prospect, the now-Rangers star made his debut during the 2018–19 season and contributed somewhat to their championship victory.
Cantwell participated in 24 of their 46 games, making 18 starts overall. He made a contribution throughout that period, creating six “big chances,” one goal, and two assists.
The next season, he scored six goals in 30 Premier League appearances as the Canaries were demoted as soon as possible.
He and Farke both had another chance to excel in the Championship after that relegation. During the 2020–21 season, the gifted wizard scored six goals and provided six assists in 30 starts as Norwich captured another second division championship. With seven “big chances” generated and 1.7 crucial passes made per game, he demonstrated his inventiveness by allowing players like Teemu Pukki and Emiliano Buendia to exploit gaps in the opponent defense.
Cantwell was also among the top 4% of his positional counterparts in terms of progressive passes (6.14) and shot-creating actions (4.41) per 90 during that season.
The numbers support Leeds’ decision to sign Brooks
As an aggressive midfielder who can play both wide and centrally, Brooks is a guy who could provide Cantwell-like attributes.
In his 12 Premier League games this season, he has only started two of them and has struggled for playing time. He has only produced one goal and one assist.
Nonetheless, the left-footed wizard demonstrated his abilities at the Championship level prior to his health problems in the 2020–21 season—the same year when Cantwell excelled for Norwich.
For the Cherries, the Welsh wizard started 25 league games and contributed five goals, six assists, and six “big chances” to his team’s success.
In the division that term, he also placed in the top 28% for shot-creating actions (3.23) per 90, and in the top 15% for progressive passes (4.36) among his positional peers.
These numbers indicate that Brooks might be a similar asset to Cantwell in terms of his ability to score goals and create goals, as well as his ability to play forward from midfield to get his side up the pitch and into dangerous positions.
He was previously called a “creative spark” by journalist Josh Bunting for Bournemouth, and if Farke can get him back to his peak, he may be just that for Leeds. Signing the talented player who earns £50k per week would be risky because he hasn’t played at that level since the 2020–21 season because of health concerns, but if he can regain his game, it might be a very lucrative agreement.
With a loan agreement, the Whites would not be exposed to any long-term danger since, should things not work out, they could return him to Bournemouth at the conclusion of the season.
