Details of Leeds United’s summer pursuit of Germany-based midfielder Tanaka have emerged. Tanaka has been linked with a transfer to Elland Road this summer.
The specifics of Leeds United’s summer offer for Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka have finally been revealed.
The Elland Road club submitted a single email offer of €3.7 million for the Japan international.
Tanaka appears to be eager to leave Dusseldorf and has agents working on prospective deals for the January transfer window.
Leeds United appears to have made a particularly aggressive pursuit of Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder Ao Tanaka over the summer.
This follows a report from German publication BILD detailing the Elland Road club’s summer offer for the 25-year-old.
Tanaka was linked with a transfer to Leeds in the summer.
Leeds suffered an exodus from their first-team squad following their relegation from the Premier League to the Championship at the end of last season.
During the transfer window, no fewer than 16 senior players would depart the club, either permanently or on loan.
That meant the Whites needed to bring in many more alternatives to replace those leaving Elland Road, including Tanaka in central midfield.
Leeds were said to be interested in the Japan international while the market was open, but no deal was ever struck.
Now it appears that the breadth of the Elland Road club’s offer was a likely reason that things worked out in that specific way.
What are the specifics of Leeds’ offer for Tanaka?
According to the most recent BILD report, Leeds made just one bid for the Dusseldorf midfielder during the summer transfer window.
It is said that this came in the shape of a €3.7 million email offer for the 25-year-old.
With that attempt clearly failing, it is believed that the Championship team opted not to pursue Tanaka beyond that initial bid.
Given that he has two years left on his current deal, Dusseldorf were in a good position to discuss any bids that came in for the Japan international during the transfer window.
Indeed, it is reported that this was the only offer made by any team for the midfielder over the summer.
Tanaka appears to be concerned about this, since he is eager to leave Dusseldorf in Germany’s second division as soon as possible.
As a result, it is currently reported that the player is working with a number of agencies to locate him a potential new destination before the transfer market reopens in January.
Tanaka has made 60 appearances for Dusseldorf and scored two goals in all competitions since coming from Kawasaki Frontale in his native Japan in the summer of 2021.
Should Leeds renew their pursuit of Tanaka in January?
It may be argued that when the market reopens at the end of the window, Leeds will not need to make a new bid to sign Tanaka.
While they did need to recruit in the center of midfield after several departures in the summer, they were able to do so with the additions of Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev, as well as Jamie Shackleton, who returned from his loan spell to compete for a place in the side.
As a result, it might be claimed that Leeds now need to reinforce positions other than central midfield in the January transfer window.
Keeping this in mind, it would
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