Daniel Farke got lucky as Ao Tanaka almost never became a Leeds United player…
Ao Tanaka is one of Leeds United’s best players and a favourite of Daniel Farke at Elland Road after last season’s heroics.
He was often the tempo setter and engine of the Leeds United team under Daniel Farke, but Ao Tanaka has left a lasting impression on many neutrals far and wide for his 2024/25 season.
Tanaka’s agent thinks he’s good enough for the Premier League. His quality last season was undeniable, so much so that Leeds icon Jermaine Beckford picked Tanaka as his Player of the Season.
Bought for a bargain £3.4m from Fortuna Dusseldorf, Tanaka has not only proved to be excellent value for money — but many would even argue he was the best midfielder in the Championship.
READ MORE: Leeds United fans ‘massively worried’ after big contract update out of Elland Road
SV Werder Bremen v 1. FC Köln – Bundesliga.
Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
Leeds came close to signing Dejan Ljubicic instead of Ao Tanaka
Tanaka was signed last summer alongside Joe Rothwell to bolster Leeds’ midfield ranks after the losses of Glen Kamara and Archie Gray.
Tanaka was a target in the summer of 2023, but Leeds instead signed the Rangers midfielder. However, after recent developments, it could well have been neither, and that would have potentially meant no Tanaka.
The reason is due to Leeds’ protracted Dejan Ljubicic saga. 1. FC Koln’s Ljubicic was open to the Leeds move as well.
Leeds were priced out of a Ljubicic move, even though Farke was desperate to sign Ljubicic. He was the first-choice target before a late-window move for Tanaka. Ljubicic has since spoken about the deal that almost materialised.
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Per Kronen Zeitung today, the player was close to an exit from the club on several occasions before Koln intervened and stopped him from departing. One such occasion saw Leeds come calling, according to Ljubicic.
He explained in an interview with the outlet: “I’d already gone a long way with Wolfsburg and later Leeds. But they didn’t want to let me go.”
That was particularly difficult to take for the 27-year-old, who found himself out of the picture at the club when Gerhard Struber was sacked.
He then failed to play a single minute of football after that and had to watch from the sidelines as they celebrated promotion back to the Bundesliga. Leeds are lucky a deal fell through.
It’s fair to say Leeds dodged a Ljubicic-sized bullet given Tanaka’s exploits in West Yorkshire for a fraction of the potential price for the Austrian international. It’s extremely likely he would have been signed instead of the Japanese midfielder.
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