If it wasn’t for a last-minute equaliser from AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, Leeds United would have been celebrating two successive Premier League wins under Daniel Farke.
A 2-2 draw against Andoni Iraola’s stern Cherries isn’t a terrible result, all things considered, as the promoted sides up from the Championship continue to show that they belong at such an intimidating level.
The close showdown with the visitors from the South Coast also showed off Leeds’ excellent summer recruitment, as both Anton Stach and Noah Okafor stood out once more, among other fresh purchases.
Leeds' standout performers vs Bournemouth
Stach wasn’t as overwhelmingly brilliant as he was against Wolverhampton Wanderers, however, with no more audacious free-kicks being hammered home.
Still, come the final whistle, the German had still won three ground duels from his 40 touches of the ball, with his goalscoring flair substituted out for some grit for the challenge of Bournemouth.
Leeds fans would have been relieved to see another hero from that 3-1 away day success at Molineux start against Bournemouth in the form of Okafor, with the Switzerland international looking rather sheepish by the close of that whirlwind contest.
He did last just an hour against the Cherries, but his directness on the ball in forward areas certainly caught the eye of the Elland Road masses, with three successful dribbles and two shots on the Bournemouth goal nearly catching Iraola’s men out.
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Yet, away from all the shiny new toys filling out Farke’s starting XI, it was the old reliable Joe Rodon who equalised for Leeds with a bullet header, with the £10m to bring him in permanently last summer continuing to look like a steal.
He isn’t the only recent buy being made to look like a bargain deal, however, with one under-the-radar star now boasting a higher transfer valuation than both in-form Stach and Okafor, despite both their impressive starts to life in England.
Leeds' under-the-radar star is now worth more than Stach & Okafor
Signings from far-off Europe are always going to be instant attention grabbers, with Stach costing a high £20m to obtain from Hoffenheim, on top of Okafor joining from AC Milan for an equally pricey £18m.
However, Farke would have been abundantly aware this summer that the spine of his side needed Premier League experience, having tasted the bitter disappointment of relegation from the division previously with Norwich City when that experience just wasn’t there.
Thankfully, Sean Longstaff has already come to the rescue in this department.
Purchased for just £12m, the ex-Newcastle United midfielder has already managed to show off his top-flight class, with his all-round showing against Bournemouth seeing Farke declare the 6-foot-2 ace as “outstanding.”
It was deserved praise too, when glancing over his superb numbers from the score draw, with Longstaff very much good value for both his goal and assist, having amassed a ludicrous seven key passes throughout.
On top of this creative flair, however, the 27-year-old – who is now up to 177 top-flight outings – also won a powerful ten duels in total, with Alan Shearer’s previous comments about Longstaff being an “unbelievable” talent very much now ringing true, even if he has departed his boyhood employers.
Arguably, Newcastle could well have driven a harder bargain when getting rid of their homegrown talent, with Football Transfers now estimating that Longstaff’s value is way above the £12m he was purchased for back in July.
1. Wilfried Gnonto
£23m
2. Sean Longstaff
£21m
3. Jaka Bijol
£20m
4. Joel Piroe
£16.5m
5. James Justin
£16m
Amazingly, Longstaff is now Leeds’ second-highest valued asset at £21m – according to Football Transfers – with both Stach and Okafor not even making the above list, with their own values coming in at £16m and £15m respectively.
Despite this sharp increase in Longstaff’s value sticking out, Farke will know he needs his full talented squad to keep firing on all cylinders to ensure survival is reached, with the early signs looking hopeful in their quest for Premier League safety.
