da marjack bet： Leeds United attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson deserves huge credit for the way that he has made an impact in the Premier League this season.

da pinnacle： The USA international only managed one goal in 36 games in the top-flight in the 2022/23 campaign, yet scored his second goal of this season against Manchester United on Sunday.

Aaronson, with two goals and five ‘big chances’ created (Sofascore), has proven that he does have a part to play for Leeds in the Premier League, which is a credit to his work rate and determination to improve.

That being said, there is still room for the Whites to improve by signing competition for him in one of the three midfield positions in Daniel Farke’s newly forged 3-5-2 system, which has seen a run of seven matches without a defeat.

Why Leeds need to sign another midfielder

Now that Leeds have found success with a 3-5-2 system, rather than the 4-3-3 that they started the season with, they need more of their creativity to come from the central midfielders.

They had wingers in a 4-3-3 who were tasked with combining with the full-backs to create chances for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but they now have the three central midfielders and the two full-backs to create for the front two.

This means that there is more of an emphasis on their central midfielders to get forward and make things happen, as the likes of Ao Tanaka, Aaronson, and Anton Stach have done in recent weeks.

With this in mind, the West Yorkshire outfit should look to add another option to their ranks in the middle of the park to reflect the increased importance of creativity in those positions with the change in formation.

The midfield star Leeds should sign to replace Aaronson

Now that the January transfer window is open for business, Leeds need to swoop for one of their reported transfer targets to be an upgrade on Aaronson.

Transfer Focus

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Journalist Pete O’Rourke revealed last month that the club have held a long-term interest in signing Galatasaray central midfielder Gabriel Sara, who is set to be available for a fee of £17.5m.

The reporter claimed at the time that the fee of almost £18m could prove problematic due to PSR constraints, but Leeds should look for a way around that, whether that is by exploring a loan-to-buy option or selling a player, such as Joel Piroe, this month.

They should try to work out a way to bring the Brazilian midfielder to Elland Road because he is an even bigger talent than Aaronson who could provide impressive creativity in the middle of the park.

Sara’s form for Galatasaray and Norwich in recent seasons suggests that he has the quality to provide more creativity at the top end of the pitch from a central midfield position than the American is currently offering Leeds.

Since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, the Brazilian star has created a whopping 37 ‘big chances’ for Norwich and Galatasaray, per Sofascore. Aaronson, in the same time frame, has created 19 for Leeds and Union Berlin combined.

This suggests that the left-footed midfield star could be more likely to provide consistent creativity from the middle of the park in the Premier League for the Whites.

Gabriel Sara

23/24 (Norwich)

24/25 (Galatasaray)

Appearances

52

43

xG

6.62

4.58

Goals

13

2

xA

12.02

9.47

Key passes

131

94

Big chances created

16

16

Assists

13

9

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Sara also scored 13 goals from 6.62 xG in England in his last season with Norwich, but he has only scored four goals in 18 months in Turkey, so it remains to be seen if he can be a consistent goal threat.

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The 26-year-old star, who analyst Ben Mattinson claimed has a “magical left foot”, is yet to play in the Premier League, but he has played in the Europa League, the Champions League, and the Championship.

This means that he has already experienced life in England and the physicality of English football, whilst also having played at a high level with Galatasaray, domestically and in European competitions.

Therefore, Sara could have a good chance of hitting the ground running as an excellent addition to the squad as an even bigger talent than Aaronson, given the far superior creative quality that he can bring to the team in midfield.

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