Leeds sign £20m Fulham wizard and £15m gem in mega January transfer window prediction

Leeds United and Daniel Farke have defied the doubters so far in their return to the Premier League, sitting 12th after a month back in the big time after upsetting Everton and Wolves.

Of course, there's still the bulk of the season still to play but to have as many victories as defeats at this stage of the campaign is a more promising start than the would likely have expected.

The Whites had struggled in front of goal, failing to score from open play in their opening four games and only beating Everton through a contentious penalty, but they finally hit their stride with five goals in their last two matches.

So there's room for improvement but also plenty of reason for optimism heading into the rest of the season, and Leeds also ‘only’ spent £98m in the summer, the 15th highest outlay in the division.

That means there should be more scope for further upgrades to ensure they become the first newly promoted side in two years to survive in the top flight, so we asked Grok to predict Leeds’ summer transfer window.

Leeds gamble on unproven Premier League talent in Onyedika, Cannon and Solomon

Raphael Onyedika - £20 million from Club Brugge - The Nigerian has been sidelined with a hamstring injury but should be back well before the transfer window opens. The 24-year-old is a Rolls-Royce for Club Brugge and if he performs as well in Europe this season as he did in the 2024/25 Champions League, £20m would be a steal.

Tom Cannon - £15m from Sheffield United - It feels a long time now since Tom Cannon comfortably outshone Liam Delap and Troy Parrott (who’s scored 11 European goals in two seasons at AZ Alkmaar) on loan at Preston North End, inspiring Leicester City to make him the 36th-most expensive player in Championship history the following summer.

Cannon only played 16 times for the Foxes but 10 goals in half a season on loan at Stoke were enough to convince Sheffield United to buy him for £10m - he now appears twice in the top 50 biggest Championship signings.

Cannon has once again struggled since moving to Bramall Lane, notching a lone goal in 24 games, but that means the Ireland international is due a rebound and he’d be a promising face to add into Leeds’ striker rotation as he’s capable of a Delap-style transformation for the Whites.

Manor Solomon - £18m from Tottenham - Leeds couldn’t agree a deal to bring Solomon back to Elland Road this summer after he starred for Farke last season with 10 goals and 12 assists.

He’s made a roaring start to life on loan at Villarreal with two goal contributions already despite playing less than half an hour (if he continues that strike rate and matches his league minutes from last season he’s on track for 180 goal contributions this campaign) but if Leeds continue to struggle to score, they should rekindle their interest in the 26-year-old.

Championship stalwarts Meslier, Gnonto and Aaronson all depart

Ilan Meslier - £25m to Inter Milan - After playing 39 times for Leeds last season, the arrival of Lucas Perri signalled the end to Meslier’s reign between the sticks at Elland Road and he’s yet to even play in the League Cup this season.

However, aged 25 the Frenchman did flash for Leeds and Yann Sommer is finally slowing down ahead of his 37th birthday. The Swiss shot-stopper has been the worst goalkeeper in Serie A this season and has now been replaced by Josep Martinez, so could Cristian Chivu look to expand his options?

Wilfried Gnonto - £30m to Everton - Gnonto is yet to hit his stride this season as he’s been substituted off before the 70 minute mark in all three of his Premier League starts and was dropped for the trip to Wolverhampton.

With an impressive 22 goals and 14 assists for Leeds still aged just 21, Gnonto has bags of potential but can the Whites afford to wait for him to mature? Perhaps not, while Everton don’t look set to endure the same pressure to survive in the top flight and £30m would mean an almost 10-fold profit for Leeds.

Brenden Aaronson - £20m to RB Leipzig - With both clubs in the Red Bull cinematic universe, the links are there for this transfer. Aaronson enjoyed three seasons at RB Leipzig before moving to England but he’s never hit double figures for either goals and assists so with his contract expiring in 2027, it makes sense that Leeds could look to cash in while they still can.

AI-predicted 2026 Leeds starting XI: Grok sticks with Arteta’s trusty 4-3-3 and gave a starting lineup of: Perri; Bogle, Bijol, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Onyedika, Longstaff; James, Stach, Solomon; Cannon.