Leeds United were a busy club throughout the summer transfer window, which officially slammed shut on Friday night, with plenty of incoming and outgoings.
The Whites failed to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking last season, as they lost 1-0 to Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley in May, and that left them vulnerable to clubs coming in for their players.
Archie Gray was signed by Tottenham Hotspur, Crysencio Summerville moved to West Ham United, Glen Kamara joined Rennes, and Georginio Rutter was snapped up by Brighton & Hove Albion.
They were all regular starters under Daniel Farke in the 2023/24 campaign and it was crucial that they were replaced in the transfer market this summer.
The Yorkshire-based outfit moved to sign Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, Alex Cairns, Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Ao Tanaka, Isaac Schmidt, and Joe Rothwell to bolster their playing squad.
Farke needed to add quality to the group after the likes of Rutter and Summerville moved on and the 49ers splashed the cash to bring one player, in particular, to Elland Road for the 2024/25 campaign.
How much Leeds paid for Largie Ramazani
The Whites reportedly agreed a £10m deal with Spanish side Almeria to sign the former Manchester United academy prospect this summer.
Leeds needed a left winger to come in and fill the gap left by Summerville and Ramazani was brought in alongside Solomon to fulfill that need.
The Tottenham Hotspur loanee got off to the perfect start, with an assist against Hull in a 2-0 win at Elland Road on Saturday, but the ex-Almeria star had to settle for a 17-minute cameo off the bench.
Hopefully, there are big things to come from the 23-year-old winger after he caught the eye with his performances in LaLiga last season, despite his side suffering relegation to LaLiga 2.
Appearances
29
Starts
16
Goals
3
Big chances created
10
Assists
5
As you can see in the table above, the Belgian youngster provided his team with a huge creative threat, with ten 'big chances' created in 29 matches.
However, his teammates only scored five goals from those ten 'big chances', which suggests that Ramazani was let down by their wasteful finishing.
Leeds, however, could have had a more valuable asset, and better player, in their ranks had Victor Orta not had a nightmare with Jack Clarke back in the summer of 2019.
How much Spurs paid for Jack Clarke
Ahead of the 2019/20 campaign, former sporting director Orta opted to cash in on the talented teen winger amid interest from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs swooped in and managed to secure his services for a fee of £8.5m and they allowed the youngster to return to the club on a season-long loan.
That came after the teenage starlet had produced two goals and two assists in 25 first-team appearances for Leeds in Marcelo Bielsa's first season in Yorkshire.
He was a hugely promising talent who had emerged as a genuine senior option for the Argentine head coach, but was cashed in on after just one year in the first-team.
Clarke then only played three times in the first half of the 2019/20 campaign, as Bielsa was seemingly not keen on developing a player for another club ahead of his permanent options, before returning to Spurs in January.
The right-footed attacker eventually ended up at Sunderland in the 2021/22 campaign, where he racked up one goal and four assists in 20 league outings, and signed permanently for the Black Cats in the summer of 2022.
He then went on to star for the Wearside-based outfit over the next two years and earned himself a move to the Premier League, where he is now more valuable than Ramazani.
Orta had a nightmare with the young winger as Leeds won promotion the season that he was sold and that could have been enough to keep him at the club for the future, which would have seen him develop and thrive at Elland Road instead of elsewhere.
How much Jack Clarke is worth now
Ipswich Town, who were promoted ahead of the Whites last term, swooped in to sign the winger for a reported fee of £15m that could rise to £20m with add-ons.
This means that he is currently valued at least £5m, and potentially £10m, higher than Ramazani, who plays in the same position as him on the left flank.
The Tractor Boys decided to move for the English flanker after his impressive form in the Championship for the Black Cats over the previous two campaigns.
In his first full season in the second tier with Sunderland, Clarke recorded 20 direct goal contributions and helped his side to qualify for the play-offs.
Appearances
45
Goals
9
Assists
11
Dribbles completed per game
2.0
As you can see in the table above, the former Leeds academy prospect proved his quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals in the Championship.
That was only emphasised by his performances for the club in the 2023/24 campaign, as he once again showcased his ability in the final third on a regular basis.
Clarke scored 15 goals from 11.43 xG in 40 appearances in the Championship for Sunderland last season, which shows that he is a ruthless finisher who does not pass up on many high-quality opportunities to find the back of the net.
The 23-year-old ace, who was described as "unplayable" by pundit Adrian Clarke, only registered four assists in those 40 matches for the Black Cats, but that does not tell the full story.
He created 12 'big chances' for his teammates and ended the season with an xA tally of 9.77, to go along with 2.4 key passes per game, and this suggests that he was let down by poor and wasteful finishing by other players.
Leeds star who's won every single tackle has been even better than Joseph
The Whites enforcer has enjoyed a terrific start to the season for Daniel Farke.
ByDan EmerySep 3, 2024
Overall, Orta had a nightmare by selling him to Spurs for £8.5m as Leeds missed out on an incredibly gifted Championship player and a far more valuable asset further down the line.