Daniel Farke’s ability to bring Willy Gnonto off the bench during Leeds United’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on New Year’s Day is a testament to the depth at his disposal.
An authentic, Premier League-caliber Italy international.
Manor Solomon, Brendan Aaronson, Dan James, and the previously mentioned Gnonto all made appearances in a single Elland Road afternoon, with Largie Ramazani sitting on the bench. There are five guys who would fit right in with most Championship XIs.
The scary assortment of attacking weaponry will be enough to draw blood most of the time, even though Leeds may have failed to break down a resolute Blackburn, as Danny Batth cancelled out Pascal Struijk’s penalty in stoppage time.
With 45 goals so far, Leeds United leads not only the table but also the scoring statistics.
Leeds’ unsuccessful attempts to sign Joseph Paintsil will therefore be a relief to their Championship rivals.
Joseph Paintsil shines in MLS after snubbing Leeds United transfer
Speaking to Belgian publication Het Laatste Nieuws shortly after sealing a £7 million switch from KRC Genk to LA Galaxy, Paintsil admitted that he had turned down not only Farke but also a Southampton side who would go on to break Leeds’ hearts in the resulting play-off final at Wembley.
“There were many possibilities,” Paintsil explained. “When my agent said that I could go to Southampton and Leeds United, it quickly became clear to me that I did not want to leave Genk for those clubs.
“Look, every player has certain expectations. My dream is to one day play in the Premier League. Or at least in a top-five European league.
“I don’t want to say that Southampton and Leeds are bad teams, but they couldn’t convince me.”
The irony being, of course, that Paintsil would now be playing Premier League football at Southampton, albeit at the bottom of the standings. Leeds look very well placed to replace The Saints, too, when their seemingly-inevitable relegation is confirmed.
The Ghana international should not have to wait too much longer, however, before he is being inundated with offers to return across the Atlantic. Especially after he finished his debut season in Major League Soccer with 15 goals and seven assists across 37 LA Galaxy matches.
Paintsil helps win LA Galaxy the MLS Cup and Western Conference
Not only did Paintsil help Galaxy top the Western Conference, he then opened the scoring against New York Red Bulls as Greg Vanney’s team secured a record sixth USA title, while snapping a decade-long trophy drought along the way.
“It was about our style of play, about the profiles that we wanted, and finding guys that we felt like really fit with the guys we had,” Vanney said at the conclusion of a glorious campaign, hailing the impact of Paintsil and a few other highly impressive additions.
“I mean, their ability to adapt to this league quickly and just have incredible seasons… [Paintsil and the new signings] hit the ground running and had huge seasons.”
Paintsil grinned after capping an incredible campaign with a goal on the grandest platform, saying, “It’s really special because 10 years is a really big gap, and we succeeded.” It’s simply incredible, and we continue.
There was a lot of scepticism at first from other quarters. People were [saying] that we wouldn’t succeed, you know. We were being disparaged by others.
“We are the best in the league, the West, and the Cup, as you can see.”
Thankfully for Leeds United, Farke still has plenty of options available to him to guarantee that the Elland Road field will soon be showered in champagne as well, even though Paintsil may have rejected their advances.
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