Leeds United sign £16m Brentford midfielder and Serie A star in bold new January transfer window prediction

Every time Leeds United look set to slip adrift in the Premier League relegation battle they bounce back with a pivotal result usually at Elland Road, but they’ll need to outfox their Premier League relegation rivals off the pitch too in the January transfer window if they are to survive in the top flight.

Leeds didn’t break the bank in the summer transfer window meaning they should have emergency funds to chase some winter impact signings to help keep The Whites up. They require significant goal-scoring and creative help at the top of the pitch, having particularly struggled to score from open play, and could do with Premier League-quality upgrades all over the pitch to prevent them relying in Championship-level depth players as the season wears on.

So to see who they could target and let go in the upcoming window, we simulated it in Football Manager 26. The results were surprising…

Risky business from Leeds

Gabriel Costa - £4.6m from Fierense - £5m 19-year-olds who have only made a handful of appearances in the Portuguese second division don't usually win relegation scraps. Would this be different? He’s so inexperienced it’s impossible to tell.

Nicholas Pierini - £2m from Sassuolo - The 27-year-old may not be quite as big a punt as Costa, but he’s still a bit of a gamble. A Serie B stalwart, the winger has never put out insane goal contribution numbers and having finally stepped up to Italy’s top flight in 2025/26 he’s yet to record a goal or assist.

Frank Onyeka - £16m from Brentford - Central midfield seems a strange position for Leeds to make their marquee signing given they already have Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff, Ao Tanaka, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev competing for starts and more pressing needs further up the pitch.

Manor Solomon - loan from Tottenham Hotspur - This could be a move that works for all parties given Solomon made 23 goal contributions in his temporary spell at Leeds last season. By contrast, he’s only started once in La Liga on loan at Villarreal in 2025/26 and played just 146 division minutes in total despite no serious injuries. They also bring in Hamburg’s Bakery Jatta for a nominal fee which will be a bargain if they can pull it off in real life..

Brace of big-name midfielders headline departures

Ethan Ampadu - loan to Lazio - Losing Ampadu would be a blow even if he’d be replaced by Onyeka, though Welshman does have a healthy amount of experience in Serie A with Spezia and Venezia.

Ao Tanaka - loan to Fulham - Quite why Leeds would give away two of their top midfielders in the middle of a relegation battle for a 27-year-old who’s a fringe player at Brentford is slightly baffling. There were doubts over whether Tanaka had the physicality to survive in the Premier League and while he’s not dominated every game, he’s been no shrinking violet either.

Finally, Rhys Chadwick (Burton Albion), Rory Mahady (Northampton Town), Jayden Lienou (Leyton Orient) and Freddie Lane (Chesterfield) also go out on loan.