Leeds United urged to follow Ange Postecoglou's Celtic transfer blueprint as £7m example given

Leeds United legend Gordon Strachan believes his former club should look north of the border for transfer window inspiration - and not at 49ers Enterprises’ latest investment, Rangers.

Elland Road recruitment chiefs will spend the next few months preparing for the return of Premier League football to Elland Road in August, with chairman Paraag Marathe already describing this summer as the most important in decades. As such, 49ers Enterprises have issued around £120million worth of shares for current investors in a bid to fill Daniel Farke’s transfer coffers.

A portion of that investment will sit alongside future broadcast revenue and money from player sales to give Leeds the greatest chance of survival, but Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) will limit them, with a maximum permitted loss of £61m next season. And so they will need to spend smart - which is where Strachan points to Parkhead.

Under current Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou, Celtic altered their transfer approach in the summer of 2021, moving away from focusing on fringe Premier League players and deciding to lean on their manager’s expertise elsewhere. Postecoglou had previously coached in Japan and so was able to pick out the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda for just £7m combined.

Gordon Strachan on Leeds United’s transfer business

“Leeds’ recruitment in this summer transfer window must be spot on,” Strachan told The Daily Record. “But fans must not over expect the business that the club can do this window. They aren’t going to be making £70million signings. They need to be looking for those gems that are cheap in the market, like how Celtic have recruited in the past – that’s what they should take inspiration from.

“You look at the way that Celtic recruit and what they’ve paid for players, Kyogo Furuhashi for £1.6m, Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda – all of them for around that amount. Celtic work with them and develop them and I believe Leeds must do the same thing in the transfer market this summer.”

Leeds have already shown a similar level of nous under 49ers Enterprises, who have trusted Farke to pluck relatively unknown talent - at least on English shores - from Germany. Ilia Gruev arrived in a £4m deal from Werder Bremen but the crowning jewel of that approach is undoubtedly Ao Tanaka, whose £2.8m move from second-tier side Fortuna Dusseldorf has proven an outstanding piece of business.

Farke might hope to have further opportunities to lean on his German expertise this summer, and reports of interest in the likes of FC Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Julian Weigl suggest it will be a market Leeds look at again. It’s another tick in the box for the 48-year-old to get a fair shot at Premier League football next season and Strachan is happy to see him stay on board.

“Leeds should absolutely stick with Daniel Farke in the Premier League; there’s no reason for them to let him go,” the Division One title-winning former Leeds midfielder added. "They were the best team to watch in the Championship and finished above a brilliant Burnley side in the league. The manager was a big part of that, and it would be silly to replace him off the back of that campaign.”

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