Daniel Farke will be hoping he can finally earn his stripes as a Premier League-worthy manager situated in the Leeds United dug-out next season.
The German is certainly a well-regarded manager at Championship level, considering he can boast three promotions up to the big time with Norwich City and now the Whites, but he has also only ever won a mere six top-flight ties from 49 contests when jumping up a level.
He won’t feel too weighed down by the pressure of keeping the West Yorkshire side afloat if improvements are made all across the pitch, however, with a new goalkeeper surely a must after a rocky season or two with Illan Meslier as his number one stopper.
Moreover, as much as Joel Piroe did finish as the Championship golden boot winner this season just gone, upgrades could be fancied in the striker department still, with this new sharpshooter reportedly on the agenda.
Leeds' search for a striker
After all, Farke already knows too well how challenging the new division can be, even for those once seen as the cream of the crop in the EFL’s elite league.
Off the back of this, the promotion winners are now reportedly in the race to sign up AC Milan attacker Tammy Abraham to seriously enhance their firepower, as per journalist Graeme Bailey.
Bailey elaborates that Abraham is keen on a move back to England after calling Italy his home at both parent side AS Roma and loan outfit AC Milan since 2021, with the likes of Manchester United, Everton, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and more all interested in adding him to their respective rosters.
The Whites are keeping an eye out to see how the situation develops, but if they were to amazingly beat all this competition and land the £34m star, they would secure themselves a big upgrade on their current Dutch marksman when venturing into the Premier League.
Why Abraham could be an upgrade on Piroe
This isn’t to say Piroe won’t be given chances to impress when moving up to the tough division, with his 19 league strikes undoubtedly helping Farke’s men to lift the title.
But, Abraham would surely get the first team nod over the ex-Swansea City man on his arrival, with the 27-year-old now a seasoned machine in front of goal, having left Chelsea so early into his career to perfect his clinical edge.
AC Milan
44
10
7
AS Roma
120
37
13
Aston Villa
40
26
3
Swansea City
39
8
4
Bristol City
48
26
4
The £93k-per-week marksman does have 26 Premier League strikes next to his name, ahead of former Leeds hero Raphinha (17), for instance, as well Patrick Bamford (24), with that mainly down to his short-lived Stamford Bridge stint.
That said, Abraham would truly blossom into a lethal finisher away from the familiarity of England, as seen in his bumper 67 combined goals and assists lining up for Milan and Roma.
Piroe does have his plaudits too, considering he has bagged 79 strikes in total for both Leeds and one of Abraham’s many loan sides in Swansea, but the Dutchman has been prone to long stretches of barren form too.
In the Championship this season just gone, for example, the division’s top scorer still managed to squander a hefty 13 big chances.
On the contrary, despite playing for an underperforming Rossoneri on loan after finding his time in the Italian capital to be injury-ravaged, Abraham would only waste ten big chances in Serie A action.
He is in many ways a goalscoring “monster” – as he once referred to himself after improving under Jose Mourinho.
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Therefore, the former Blues youth product has the potential to be the centre-forward Farke and Co are longing for as they embark on their daunting Premier League adventure, with the likes of Daniel James and Wilfried Gnonto no doubt excited by the prospect of linking up with their brand new teammate.
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