It’s been a long two months for frustrated Leeds United fans, and while the Championship looks set to be suspended for a while longer yet, top-quality football has returned to the Bundesliga.
Save for resorting to following the Belarusian Premier League, football obsessives starved of their regular fix have had the chance to watch the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho in action over the past couple of weeks.
One way for United fans to find added interest in watching German football is to cast themselves as aspiring Victor Ortas and look for players who would be suited to joining Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites.
Okay, so Leeds will not be in the market to sign the superstars of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, or wonderkids such as Kai Havertz, but there is still plenty of talent around in the German league they could target, especially if they win promotion.
Here are just five of the Bundesliga players who could do a job for Leeds should they become a Premier League club again...
Robin Koch
One to watch for all Leeds fans given how strongly Koch has already been linked with a move to Elland Road. The Freiburg defender is a classy operator, a modern centre-half who is comfortable in possession. Like Ben White, he has shown adaptability by occasionally moving into midfield. The 23-year-old was given his international debut for Germany earlier in the season and is now looking to make Joachim Löw’s squad for Euro 2021.
Exequiel Palacios
Okay, so perhaps we are stretching the definition of signable here, given that Palacios only joined in-form Bayer Leverkusen for a reported €16m in January and is under contract until 2025, but we had to include him just because of how perfectly he’d fit in under Bielsa.
At just 21, he’s still developing, but Palacios has already won four caps for Argentina and also featured for Marcelo Gallardo’s progressive River Plate side who won the Copa Libertadores in 2018. A versatile and combative midfielder, he has all the attributes to become a top-level player.
After coming through under Gallardo, widely considered the best coach in South American football, Palacios is continuing his progress under another offensively-minded coach, Leverkusen’s Peter Bosz.
“Tall, classy, versatile and elegant, Palacios has some of the young Lucho Gonzalez about him,” says ESPN’s South American football expert Tim Vickery.
Lukasz Piszczek
The veteran right-back is out of contract at Borussia Dortmund in the summer, so there’s a possibility of picking him up as a free agent.
Given that he turns 35 in June, Piszczek might not be worth more than a one-year deal, but he has been a phenomenal servant for Dortmund.
He has made more than 350 appearances for the club over the past decade and was a key figure under Jurgen Klopp when they won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012.
Leeds need depth beyond Luke Ayling, and Piszczek would offer top-level experience and a winning mentality. In spite of his advancing years, he’s still going strong, having started 16 Bundesliga games this season.
"Younger players are better trained and in great physical condition, but there's still a demand for players like me,” he said when discussing his future last year. "I feel more like I'm 29 or 30. I work and live like a professional.”
Filip Kostic
Another ambitious target that would be a major statement of intent if Leeds could pull it off.
Eintracht Frankfurt’s Kostic is hitting the peak of his powers at the age of 27.
However, Frankfurt are having an underwhelming campaign and are regarded as a selling club after allowing their front two, Luka Jovic and Sebastian Haller, leave for Real Madrid and West Ham respectively last summer.
Club chairman Peter Fischer likes to drive a hard bargain, but the economic uncertainty sparked by the coronavirus shutdown means Frankfurt could accept £19m for Kostic, who has been strongly linked with Crystal Palace if Wilfried Zaha leaves.
The left-winger is having a strong season in spite of the club’s struggles. The Serbian international averages the third-most dribbles per game in the Bundesliga, and is second in key passes, according to the website WhoScored.com.
He’s also scored four goals and registered eight assists this season. One to consider to replace Jack Harrison if Leeds can’t retain his services.
Nico Elvedi
A key player for both Borussia Monchengladbach and Switzerland, Elvedi had long been linked with a move to the Premier League and has spoken about how it’s an attractive proposition.
Already experienced at just 23 after making more than 150 appearances in all competitions for Gladbach, he is versatile too as a centre-back who can also slot in at right-back.
Elvedi is an exceptionally tidy passer and topped the table for individual pass accuracy last season and is only behind Borussia Dortmund’s Axel Witsel in that regard this year.
