Ao Tanaka arrives at Thorp Arch to finalise multi-million Leeds United transfer
Ao Tanaka has arrived at Thorp Arch ahead of signing a four-year deal with Leeds United, according to Sacha Tavolieri.
Writing via his personal X account on Thursday (29 August), the Belgian journalist reported that the Whites are on the verge of completing a deal with Fortuna Dusseldorf for the 25-year-old Japan midfielder.
It is understood that Leeds are also working on a deal to sign Freiburg and Hungary attacker Roland Sallai but no agreement has been reached between the Yorkshire club and the Germans.
Leeds United close in on final new additions as Ao Tanaka arrives at Thorp Arch
Leeds United have had it all to do in the last couple of weeks after adding Georginio Rutter to the pile of players they’ve let leave Elland Road this summer.
Sure, the Whites were powerless to resist Brighton’s £40million move for Rutter due to his release clause but the fact has remained that Daniel Farke’s was seriously weakened by his exit, and that of Crysencio Summerville, Glen Kamara and Archie Gray.
Tanaka is a central midfielder who’s known for scoring goals.
His most famous goal was arguably at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 when he netted a controversial winner against Spain.
However, Tanaka’s time at Fortuna has been plagued by injury issues and inconsistency. He’s also been accused of going missing in their play-off final loss to VfL Bochum at the end of last season when Fortuna failed to win promotion to the Bundesliga.
Still, the ex-Kawasaki Frontale midfielder could still be a good option to have in Farke’s squad.
Leeds will be thankful to have him at some point this season, we’re sure.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are sole bidders in the race to sign an international forward before the 11pm deadline on Friday.
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