Leeds sign £40m striker and dream creative pair in perfect January transfer window prediction

Leeds United have the opportunity to put any lingering doubts over their Premier League survival to bed by acing the final few days of the January transfer window and completing their squad overhaul under Daniel Farke.

Even at this stage, some doubts still remain despite Leeds entering the weekend closer to 10th-placed Everton than the relegation zone, and nearer to Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth than Nottingham Forest, the team directly below them.

One reason for those lingering doubts is Leeds’ quiet transfer window so far, with The Whites still in negotiations for several key targets. They’ve only signed one player, 18-year-old defender Leonard Ngenge from Nigerian side Remo Stars, with another striker still required and more attacking creativity also sought by Farke.

Three more wins and a few draws for Leeds would likely guarantee their survival and to see which players could help them get over the line, we asked Grok to predict which players could be moving to and leaving Elland Road in the next week.

Leeds tick remaining boxes with predicted January signings

Romano Schmid - £18 million from Werder Bremen: The 25-year-old is already on track for his best season in terms of goal contributions since moving from Austria to the Bundesliga, currently sitting on seven goals and assists from 17 games. He may not start every game for The Whites but he’s still improving and is capable of producing game-changing moments, while useful out of possession too.

Jørgen Strand Larsen - £40m from Wolverhampton Wanderers: The big fish. If Strand Larsen was continuing the form he showed last season, Leeds would have no chance of signing him, partly because Wolves would be even less keen to part with him but mostly because the calibre of clubs his sale would interest.

But he isn’t - so many higher-placed clubs will be wary about the risks associated, while Leeds urgently need another striking option despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s surprise purple patch. If they can supply the service, Strand Larsen is sure to deliver. Grok may be guessing low on the price here, mind you, as Leeds have had a similar bid rejected already.

Martin Baturina - £35m from Como: The Italian club aren’t necessarily keen to sell one of their prized assets as they chase European qualification for the first time ever, unless they receive an offer they can’t refuse - and Grok predicts Cesc Fabregas will wake up with a horse’s head in his bed. The 22-year-old could be a real star in the Premier League, he shone in midweek against AC Milan and would bring bags of creativity to the one-dimensional Whites.

Pair of fringe departures from Elland Road

Wilfried Gnonto - £35m to Neom: Similar to Baturina at Como, though perhaps not quite to the same extent, Leeds would prefer to keep hold of the Italian but if a ridiculous offer came in then they would accept. Grok predicts they will, courtesy of the most dystopian club in world football, meaning Gnonto swaps the passion and atmosphere of Elland Road for a club named after a city with no people in it, who don’t even play their football in said city.

Joel Piroe - £13m to Celtic - With one striker arriving, Piroe’s game time under Farke would be limited, so Grok predicts he heads north of the border to Celtic - despite Leeds’ ownership links to Rangers. He’s already spent much of the season watching the Premier League rather than playing in it, clocking a meagre 203 minutes of top flight football after he played in all of Leeds’ league games last season.