Leeds hit gold with “explosive” star worth more than Joseph

Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke is aiming to win promotion to the Premier League with the club at the second time of asking, since his arrival in the summer of 2023.

In his career, the German head coach has never gone two seasons in a row in the Championship without winning the title, after finishing top of the table in two of his three campaigns at that level during his time with Norwich City.

He led the Whites to the play-off final in the 2023/24 campaign, after finishing third in the regular season, but his side were beaten 1-0 by Southampton at Wembley.

Their failure to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking had a telling effect on the squad, as a number of key players ended up moving on from Elland Road.

Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Glen Kamara, and Archie Gray were sold to West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Rennes, and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

Losing four key players was, of course, a blow for Farke but the head coach was able to dip into the market to secure a host of new additions, whilst academy graduate Mateo Joseph has emerged as a genuine first-team option.

Mateo Joseph’s emergence

The former U21 star was on the fringes of the first-team in the 2023/24 campaign, with 20 appearances as a substitute and zero starts in the Championship.

Joseph, who scored 19 goals in 33 games for the club’s U21s, scored his first two senior goals for the West Yorkshire outfit with a brace against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup, before landing his first league goal off the bench against Watford.

Rutter’s exit and Patrick Bamford falling down the pecking order opened up a spot at the top end of the pitch for the 21-year-old whiz to emerge as a starter for the Whites this term.

Joseph has started eight of his 12 appearances in the Championship so far this season and appears to be a player with plenty of potential for Farke.

As you can see in the table above, the Spain U21 international has contributed with five direct goal contributions in eight starts in the second tier.

He is yet to prove that he can find the back of the net on a regular basis, with two goals in eight games, but he still has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve.

Joseph’s value has soared as a result of his emergence this season, with FootballTransfers raising his Expected Transfer Value to €2.7m (£2.2m) in October – the highest of his career so far.

However, there is another emerging star at Elland Road who is currently worth even more than the academy graduate, and that is Largie Ramazani.

How much Largie Ramazani was worth in the summer

Leeds swooped to sign the Belgian winger from Almeria during the summer transfer window to fill a gap on the flank after they lost Summerville to West Ham.

At the time of his transfer to West Yorkshire, FootballTransfers placed his Expected Transfer Value at €4.7m (£3.9m) after his form over in Spain.

Ramazani came up through the ranks at Manchester United in England, with 15 goals and ten assists in 48 U21 and U18 appearances, before his move to Almeria in 2020.

The forward produced 22 goals and nine assists in 128 appearances in all competitions during his four-year stint in Spain, in the second tier and the top-flight.

In the 2023/24 campaign, Ramazani competed in LaLiga with Almeria but was unable to help them to avoid relegation back to the second division.

As you can see in the table above, Ramazani did not start week-in-week-out for the Spanish side and, yet, was still able to rack up 13 goals and ‘big chances’ created combined in 13 starts.

Leeds had faith that he would be able to adapt to returning to England to play in the Championship and, on the evidence so far, they have proven to be right.

Leeds have hit gold with Largie Ramazani

The Whites have hit the jackpot with the 23-year-old forward as his value has already soared millions during his time at Elland Road, despite only joining in the summer.

Market Movers

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At the time of writing (30/10/2024), FootballTransfers has raised his Expected Transfer Value to a whopping €9.1m (£7.6m), which shows that his value has soared by almost £4m.

Leeds have, therefore, hit gold with the exciting attacker as his soaring market price suggests that they made the right decision to bring him in from Almeria.

This has been helped by his fantastic start to life in the Championship under Farke, as he has hit the ground running since his summer switch from Almeria.

The 23-year-old star is currently set to be out injured until December with an ankle injury, which has come as a blow to Leeds, and will be hoping to get back to where he left off when he returns from his absence.

As you can see in the table above, Ramazani has already contributed with four goal involvements in six starts in the second tier for the West Yorkshire outfit.

The Belgian ace, who was once described as an “explosive” winger with “electric” pace by talent scout Jacek Kulig, produced those involvements in four separate games, which shows that he has made a consistent impact – rather than them all coming in one go.

It is now down to Ramazani to bounce back from his current injury setback and to continue his fine start to life at Leeds, by helping them to secure promotion to the Premier League.

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The Leeds academy central defender appears to be a great prospect at Thorp Arch.

As it stands, the Whites have hit gold with the ex-LaLiga star, who is worth more than Joseph, but he has to maintain his form and ensure that his standards do not dip.