Every player Leeds signed in 2025/26 graded: Three new arrivals get a brutal E rating

Barring an improbable sequence of results across the closing weeks of the campaign, Leeds United will survive their first season back in the Premier League – an impressive achievement, given the recent track record of freshly-promoted teams. But to what extent did their work in the transfer market make the difference?

Plenty of the plaudits will rightly go to head coach Daniel Farke after he successfully switched to a compact and effective 3-5-2 formation mid-season, but did their recruitment play a key role too? Ahead of another summer of signing and selling, we’ve graded all 11 incoming transfers Leeds made across the 2025/26 season to see how well they did.

Stach & Okafor among big signings who made a splash for Leeds

Anton Stach (£17m from Hoffenheim) - A: Leeds didn’t really make any big-money signings last summer, preferring to go for volume, and their most expensive addition was still quite budget-friendly – but Stach had an impact that went far beyond his modest transfer fee.

Arguably Leeds’ most important player, Stach proved to be tenacious off the ball, creative on it, and his set pieces have elevated Leeds’ otherwise slightly leaden attack. Without Stach’s signing, the midfield might have lacked the spark to provide the goals required to stay safe. A slightly sluggish start to life at Elland Road is the only reason he doesn’t get an A+, but once he got going he became the beating heart of the side.

Noah Okafor (£16.5m from AC Milan) – B: Okafor, a left-winger who was converted to a centre-forward following the switch in formation, started in reasonably promising fashion, drifted through the winter in rather worrying fashion, and then found his form again when it mattered most.

Four goals in his last five games, including a brace to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, mean Okafor has gone from looking like a minor flop to a fine signing. Whether he’s a long-term starter or not, he’s had a massive impact on Leeds’ survival chances.

Jaka Bijol (£15.5m from Udinese) – B+: A traditional ‘rock at the back’ sort of centre-half, Bijol couldn’t get in the team when they were set up in a back four but benefited hugely from the switch to a 3-5-2 and established himself as a key component of a stingy defence through the second half of the season.

What he lacks in technical nous, he has made up for with his grit, positioning, physicality and dependability. The kind of unfussy signing who quietly strengthened a team in need of experienced and rigidity at the back.

Lucas Perri (£14m from Lyon) – E: It’s hard to be as kind about Perri. Signed to be Leeds’ new number one after they finally moved on from the disappointing Illan Meslier, Perri struggled from the off.

He wasn’t making seemingly routine saves, his distribution was poor and he never managed to look convincing between the sticks before Karl Darlow took his place. Probably Leeds’ worst piece of business, and they’ll head into the window looking for another new shot stopper this summer.

Sean Longstaff (£12m from Newcastle United) – C-: Longstaff seemed like a shrewd signing, offering experience and a degree of proven quality, but he’s spent most of the season looking below par and off the pace.

A calf injury didn’t help, but he never found consistency and wasn’t as effective out of possession as advertised. A minor let-down who has ended up as a depth piece rather than a core starter.

Budget signings make a big difference

Gabriel Gudmundsson (£10m from Lille) – C: A largely reliable presence in defence who offers little going forward, Gudmundsson has become a regular in spite of his technical limitations. Not a tremendous individual performer, perhaps, and certainly not a flashy one, but a player whose defensive work has made the shift to a 3-5-2 more effective.

James Justin (£8m from Leicester City) – B-: Justin’s experience and ability to play on both sides of the field have made him a very useful addition given the cost. Like Gudmundsson, he’s been perfectly sound at the back but has provided just a little more dynamism going forward. A very useful squad addition who has improved as the season has worn on.

Sebastiaan Bornauw (£5m from VfL Wolfsburg) – D: A flop. Bornauw has made just nine Premier League appearances and has seldom been able to get off the bench, and that’s only partly due to injury. When on the field, the Belgian hasn’t looked up to snuff at centre-back, and has been a touch off the pace every time he’s been given a chance. He doesn’t get as bad of a grade as Perri largely because his struggles have had far less of a negative impact that the Frenchman’s, and because he didn’t really cost much at all. A cheap mistake, but a mistake nonetheless.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (free transfer from Everton) – A+: While Calvert-Lewin’s form has been undeniably patchy, any player who scores 12 league goals without costing a penny (and forces his way back into the England squad, however briefly) gets an A+. Yes, he’s missed plenty of presentable chances and at his worst, has struggled rather badly. But that stellar run of form in December made Leeds’ survival possible. Without Calvert-Lewin, nothing.

Lukas Nmecha (free from VfL Wolfsburg) – B-: We’ve used a similar logic to give Nmecha a generous grade even though he only started six games. He lacks the technique and movement to be a first-rate striker, based on what we’ve seen, but still scored seven times including crucial winners against Everton and Fulham. If he’d cost £20m, we’d be less kind, but as he arrived on a free transfer it’s hard to complain too hard.

Facundo Buonanotte (loan from Brighton & Hove Albion) – E: We’re open to suggestions as to what’s happened to Buonanotte over the past year or so. When he first broke through with Brighton and Leicester, he looked dynamic and dangerous. Now, after a second failed loan spell in succession, he looks like an also-ran – not that we’ve seen all that much of him. The Argentine has made just one start for Leeds to date, against Birmingham City in the FA Cup, and was hooked at half-time having failed to make any kind of impact. A talented player in desperate need of either a change of scenery or a kick up the backside.

Final verdict on Leeds’ 2025/26 transfers

It’s hard not to heap a fair amount of praise on Leeds’ recruitment this season. Yes, there were flops, most notably Lucas Perri, but the club’s approach – to sign a large number of players rather one or two big names – has paid off handsomely.

Anton Stach and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were undeniably the best deals the club made. The former has turned himself into the team’s engine room and there are plenty of players in the league who cost far more and have offered much less – while Calvert-Lewin’s goals have made a colossal difference to their final league position. If those two players were taken out of the equation, Leeds would surely be going back down.

Outside of that pair (and the redoubtable Jaka Bijol) the results were a little more modest. Players like Sean Longstaff and Lukas Nmecha did just about enough to be useful but won’t help the club to grow in the long run, while full-back is another area which can be improved upon this summer: Gabriel Gudmundsson and James Justin have done well relative to their transfer fees, but if Leeds want to be more than relegation battlers, they can probably be supplanted.

The last summer transfer window gave Leeds the fundamental tools they needed, and that’s enough to call it a success, especially when it provided two or three genuine hits – but for long-term success, Leeds need to get younger and to upgrade in multiple areas. An interesting summer of transfer business awaits.