LEEDS COULD UNLEASH "DANGEROUS" STAR WHO'S THEIR ANSWER TO CAMERON ARCHER

Leeds United had yet another quiet winter transfer window as Daniel Farke's side ended up making no purchases.

The Whites hierarchy could well feel that the star-studded squad in its current iteration can stand the test of time when it comes to the automatic promotion race, with the West Yorkshire outfit now sitting pretty at the top of Championship table ahead of a frantic February to come.

But, as can be seen by glancing at the graphic above, Leeds' promotion rivals did end up making some significant new additions whilst the Whites faded into the background.

Yet, it wasn't solely down to Leeds not wanting to test the waters, with one deal failing to spark into life on deadline day to the dismay of those at Elland Road.

Leeds' failed move for Cameron Archer

It was well documented on deadline day that Leeds were attempting to bring in Southampton striker Cameron Archer before the clock struck 11pm, but nothing got over the line in the end.

Successfully snapping up Archer could well have sent out a statement to the rest of the Championship that Farke's men aren't going to be easily knocked off the very top of the division, with the former Middlesbrough striker a deadly finisher at the tricky level in the past.

Indeed, last time out strutting his stuff in the second tier, the ex-Aston Villa forward would bag a ridiculous 11 strikes from just 20 clashes, which included an ice-cold finish under pressure at Kenilworth Road.

Off the back of Archer's heroics, Michael Carrick's men secured a playoff spot, with the hope being in the here and now for the high-flying Whites that the statement addition of the 23-year-old would have made a return to the Premier League even more of a walk in the park.

Unfortunately for Farke and Co, Archer will stay put on the South Coast instead, but the German will know he already has a player of a similar ilk to the Walsall-born sharpshooter in a goalscoring menace who tore Cardiff City to shreds last time out.

Leeds' very own Cameron Archer

The star in question here is Joel Piroe who very rarely needs a second opportunity in a game to break his goalscoring duck.

The Dutchman's clinical edge was there for all to see versus the leaky Bluebirds, with two strikes coming his way from four on-target efforts, as the table-toppers made the visitors from Wales look amateur in a 7-0 drubbing.

In total for the season now, the "dangerous" centre-forward - as he has been labelled in the past by football journalist Josh Bunting - has 12 goals and five assists from just 20 starts in the league, which shows off a striker in red-hot form not too dissimilar to Archer's purple patch at Boro.

It's not as if this has been a one-off electric campaign for Piroe at this level either, with the 25-year-old previously electric in the Championship when on the books of Swansea City, before Leeds forked out a bumper £10m to win his services.

Piroe's overall record in the Championship

Season

Games played

Goals scored

Assists

24/25

30

12

5

23/24

48

14

3

22/23

43

19

2

21/22

45

22

6

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Looking at the table above further reinforces how much of a goal machine Piroe has been in the Championship over the past couple of seasons, with 67 goals in total coming his way across four golden campaigns.

In stark contrast, Archer only boasts 18 career strikes in the second tier, albeit from a lot fewer games at 42 compared to Piroe's weighty 166 but it shows how both are pretty prolific at this level nonetheless.

Still, whilst there might be a worry in the air already that Leeds will slip up in the ongoing promotion hunt owing to a lack of freshness, there is also an argument to be had that adding in a whole host of new players could have tinkered too much with the Whites machine, as Farke prays this season is finally the time for his side to return to the Premier League.

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2025-02-05T06:12:07Z