leeds United are looking to sign Ao Tanaka from Fortuna Dusseldorf, and Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna was seriously impressed when he witnessed the player during pre-season

Daniel Farke will be hoping that by the time his side face Hull City on Saturday afternoon, he has fresh faces in the door to go with recent additions Largie Ramazani and Manor Solomon.

Midfield is on the agenda after the exits of Glen Kamara and Archie Gray back in July, with the club only landing Joe Rothwell in the meantime.

Midfielder Ao Tanaka of Fortuna Dusseldorf is available for signing, and Leeds has started discussions to recruit the 25-year-old. The Daily Mail was the first to report on the development.

This follows interest expressed by the club last summer, when it ultimately decided to pursue Ilia Gruev and Kamara. Bild has since updated Leeds on the potential payment amount, revealing that the 2.Bundesliga club would need to sell for a fee of approximately £3.34 million, as there is no release clause in his contract.

As his team, like Leeds, failed to gain promotion via the playoffs, Tanaka, a Japan international, finished the previous season with eight goals and four assists across all competitions.

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Kieran McKenna has already said why Leeds should sign Tanaka

In addition to the scouting department at Leeds, Tanaka has left an effect on the personnel at Ipswich Town, where the German club defeated the Tractor Boys 2-1 in a preseason friendly on July 27.

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna was impressed with his performance and told the Rheinische Post which Dusseldorf player he would want to sign:

“The player you may be more familiar with if you play football is Ao Tanaka, the midfielder. His technique is quite good. Nevertheless, Fortuna’s roster also includes other talented athletes.

Tanaka is a hidden gem that could help Leeds to promotion

Tanaka is among the best midfielders Leeds may potentially acquire this week within their budget and still available at their present clubs.

Because of his league, fans may not be too familiar with him, but he has impressed Japan and Germany with his incredible performances in Germany.

Despite conflicting reports, we’re not sure how much we’d spend, but it wouldn’t be enough to make him difficult to sell to the team—in any case, it would be a great deal.