The stunning free agent signing who is a ready-made Junior Firpo replacement for Leeds

Daniel Farke is facing the daunting prospect of rebuilding his left flank this summer transfer window ahead of Leeds United’s return to the Premier League as both Junior Firpo and Manor Solomon have left Elland Road for nothing, but the football gods take away and giveth and a World Cup-winning free agent left-back could prove to be one of the bargains of the season.

Out of contract after Leeds lifted the Championship trophy on the final day of the season, Firpo is returning to Real Betis to play in the Europa League while loanee Solomon is back at parent club Tottenham Hotspur for now - though Leeds do want to re-sign him for 2025/26

They combined for 36 goal contributions in 1,578 minutes on the pitch last season though Farke will likely need to accept that he’s unlikely to sign another full-back who can push his assist tally into double-figures next season, and instead focus on finding an experienced head who can sure up the back four.

Only five of Leeds’ most common starting XI from their last Premier League remain at Elland Road: Illan Meslier, Pascal Struijk, Brenden Aaronson, Wilfried Gnonto and Jack Harrison - the last of whom spent the 2024/25 campaign failing to make an impression on loan at Everton.

Nicolas Tagliafico fits the bill perfectly and Farke can scoop him up for absolutely nothing as his contract at Lyon expires this summer.

Tagliafico could transform Leeds’ backline

For all of Firpo’s undoubted talents going forwards, he was one of the worst defensive left-backs in the Championship last season.

Firpo was almost in the bottom quartile of the league’s full-backs for tackles in his defensive third, staggeringly averaging less than one per 90 minutes (0.89) - a stat made even more remarkable by his tally of 0.86 unsuccessful challenges over the same timeframe.

Firpo committed more than three fouls every two games placing him in the bottom 10% of players in his position, and was also dispossessed more than most, with a take-on success rate of just 39%.

Which is all well and good when you’re coming up against Will Keane and Brad Potts on your flank, but when it’s Mo Salah and Connor Bradley that could be a different story.

Tagliafico isn’t exactly Trent Alexander-Arnold or Kyle Walker going forward but he’s not Tony Hibbert either. He’s notched at least one league goal and assist every season he’s played in Europe since moving with Ajax in 2018, and finished last season with eight in all competitions.

He’s played left midfield in 15% of appearances for Lyon too, but crucially the Argentine excels in the tackle too and made life so difficult for Ousmane Dembele in the 2022 World Cup final that last season’s Champions League Player of the Season was substituted after only 41 minutes.

Tagliafico played the entire game until he was replaced in the dying seconds of extra time to allow Paulo Dybala on for the penalty shootout, and started every game in Argentina’s glorious 2024 Copa America except the opener against Canada too.

So Leeds would be getting one of the most decorated international footballers in the world right now who was in the top 11% of full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues for tackles last season and is as close to bulletproof as you can wish for having only missed eight games in four campaigns for Lyon.

If Leeds can actually land him.

Could Leeds really sign Tagliafico?

It’s certainly not cut and dry. The financial aspect shouldn’t be too much of an issue - Lyon paid Tagliafico the same estimated base salary of £60,000 as Leeds paid Firpo last season and Farke has a £150m war chest with which to bolster his squad for the Premier League.

However, very few players have impressed for the last six sides immediately relegated back to the Championship and the exceptions have usually been attackers like Liam Delap or Ross Barkley - even fewer of the standouts have been in defence.

And with the opportunity to represent his country at a third World Cup on the line, Tagliafico won’t want to take too many chances.

Everton are reportedly also interested in signing the Argentine after Carlo Ancelotti almost brought him to Goodison Park in 2020, though he’d have to compete with Vitaliy Mykolenko for a starting spot on Merseyside.

However, the opportunity to play for a side looking to build upwards is more attractive than what Leeds and Farke can offer right now while those won’t be the only two teams interested - West Ham, Newcastle, Wolves and indeed most of the league outside the big six would welcome Tagliafico.

But he should be one of Leeds’ top priorities. They can afford to overpay for a 32-year-old if he fills a key position of need for them and having such a sturdy and experienced player anchoring the back four while being able to contribute at the other end of the pitch could go a long way to ensuring the Whites’ Premier League survival.