Leeds United news as bid claims clarified for Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka
Leeds United and Stuttgart were understood to be in a transfer battle to sign Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka ahead of the deadline, according to Rheinische Post.
The German publication claims on Wednesday (6 September, Page D4) that Stuttgart offered less than £3million for the Japan international while the Bundesliga 2 outfit wanted £5.1million.
While there were reports that Leeds had also tabled a bid, they were understood to be untrue as the Whites did not engage in an official offer for the 24-year-old.
Not needed
Leeds signed Ethan Ampadu early in the summer and then brought in Glen Kamara and Ilya Gruev so they were satisfied with their midfield options.
Tanaka seemed like a target but seemed to be way down on the priority list and they did not need to table a bid as they got their preferred choices.
It was a decent window for the Whites despite the fact that they did not rake in as much money as the other two relegated clubs did.
Leicester and Southampton had big assets in James Maddison and Romeo Lavia which they made the most of while selling them to Premier League clubs.
Tyler Adams was the Whites' biggest sale and there wasn't anything they could do with his price as he had a release clause post relegation.
It remains to be seen how Kamara and Gruev fare but Ampadu is already proving to a shrewd signing in the heart of midfield.