The £30m Brazilian who could transform the Leeds attack as they return to the Premier League - opinion

It’s now three seasons since any team achieved promotion to the Premier League and managed to stay there – a fact which highlights the sheer size of the gap that exists between the top flight and the championship. It’s a chasm that Leeds United need to find some way to bridge. They may just found one.

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Daniel Farke’s side are in touch with Feyenoord forward Igor Paixão ahead of a potential transfer bid – and the diminutive Brazilian winger feels like precisely the sort of player who could make the difference between relegation and a long and successful run in the top flight…

Why Leeds must move heaven and earth to sign Igor Paixão

The 25-year-old Paixão, who signed for Feyenoord three years ago, has had a hugely impressive career in the Netherlands – and while there are many examples of players who dominated the Eredivisie only to struggle at a slightly higher level, the Brazilian seems to be cut from a high-quality cloth.

An important member of league and cup winning sides, Paixão has only grown over the past few years, developing into a dangerous dribbler who both scores and creates goals in volume. Blessed with a sharp turn of pace, an excellent first touch and a lethal finish, Paixão seems like the kind of forward who can elevate teams.

Coming in off the left flank, the right-footed typically operates as an inside forward but is just as comfortable playing off the shoulder of the last man as he is dropping into slightly deeper areas to pick up the ball – and with his technique and pace, he can break defensive lines apart regardless of his starting point.

In short, he’s precisely what Leeds need, a potentially inspirational playmaker who would probably prove to be a significant upgrade on Manor Solomon. A deal for the Israeli playmaker seem to be no closer as Leeds work to make his loan move from Spurs permanent. Even if he did still move back to Elland Road, Paixão is surely a better starting option.

Paixão scored 16 goals and provided 10 assists in the league with a wildly impressive string of statistical markers behind him, but it’s the eye test which really suggests that he’s a cut above so many other players who have conquered the Netherlands but flopped abroad.

Just check out his strike above against Utrecht, which won the 2023/24 Eredivisie Goal of the Season award, or any of the numerous highlight reels you can find online to see the silky first touch and composed finishing which earned him the Dutch Player of the Year trophy over the past year. Paixão has developed into a special player.

Then there’s his performances in the Champions League. Feyenoord made it as far as the last 16 and the course of 11 matches, Paixão scored twice (including against AC Milan) and set up four more. When faced with tougher tests, he passed.

Leeds face tough battle to land big talent

Of course, Leeds aren’t alone in being aware that Paixão could be a cut above. Plenty of teams from England and abroad have been linked with a bid including Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, AS Roma, Atalanta and even Arsenal.

Feyenoord have been waiting for a bidding war to erupt for a while now, and Leeds can’t expect to be the only team interested in making a move. The Dutch side have been reported on a few occasions to be demanding up to £30m for Paixão, and other teams could match any offer Leeds make.

Which is why Leeds have reportedly been focussing on selling their project to Paixão, not just discussing the financial aspects of a future contract. If they’re going to sign a player in such demand, they understand that he’ll need to be persuaded to gamble the next couple of years of his career on a Leeds side who face an uphill struggle next season simply by the very nature of the task for newly-promoted teams.

That Paixão will leave the Netherlands this summer does, at least, seem more or less set in stone and while the player and his representatives don’t appear to have kicked up a fuss yet, it’s expected that he will gently push to take his next step, knowing that he needs to kick on to break into the Brazilian team. At 25, he has thus far represented his country only at Under-23 level.

He may feel that he can do better than a team who have only just made it back to the Premier League, of course, and there are teams in the conversation who may be able to make an offer Paixão can’t refuse. But Leeds are surely right to make the attempt, and while the transfer fee is high, it shouldn’t be so high as to interrupt efforts to find other new players such as a forward and a replacement for Illan Meslier.

Even the most conservative estimates reckon that remaining the Premier League is worth £85m to the club that survives, and some calculations reckon it’s twice that much. £30m for Paixão would be a bargain against those numbers – and if there is one player that Leeds could plausibly sign who would make that difference, it’s probably the Brazilian.