As they continue to prepare for the summer transfer window, Leeds United scouts reportedly went to games in Germany last weekend.
They are said to have complied with Daniel Farke’s request to watch Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga matches in his own country. Last summer, Leeds paid £3 million to sign Ao Tanaka from Fortuna Dusseldorf, a second-tier team, a year after Ilia Gruev moved from Werder Bremen, a top-tier squad, for about £5 million.
Even before the appointment of Farke, the Bundesliga has often been a market Leeds have looked at for transfers. While in the Premier League, the Whites paid Hoffenheim a club-record £36million for Georginio Rutter, two-and-a-half years after spending £13million to sign Robin Koch from Freiburg.
According to the Sun on Sunday, Leeds is once more searching Germany for elite players. The club is reportedly looking into Farke’s belief that there are deals in the top two divisions of the nation.
Gruev and Tanaka are definitely good deals. Josuha Guilavogui, who played in the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg and Mainz for ten years before joining Leeds on a free transfer in October, might also do so.
But the Whites aren’t the only Championship team with their eye towards Germany. Five other teams signed players from the top two divisions in the nation this season.
The most successful team is Hull City, which paid over £1 million to Darmstadt to get Marvin Mehlem before acquiring Chris Bedia and Gustavo Puerta on loan from Union Berlin and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively.
Additionally, Middlesbrough spent about £2 million for Delano Burgzorg. Meanwhile, Wilfried Kanga, Tom Krauss, and Tymoteusz Puchacz were loaned from Hertha Berlin, VfL Bochum, and Holstein Kiel, respectively, to Cardiff City, Luton Town, and Plymouth Argyle.
They haven’t all been as successful as Tanaka and Gruev, though. Earlier this year, Cardiff ended Kanga’s loan period, and in January, Hull also loaned Mehlem back to Germany.
