You could say Leeds United have been busy this transfer window with two departures and six arrivals. However, a number of out-of-favour players remain with the club after Monk failed to off-load them.
The Completed Arrivals:
Monk completed five signings during the window. Marcus Antonsson completed a move to Elland Road in June and impressed quickly as he began to score with his first being in the League Cup fixture against Fleetwood Town, before netting in the 2-0 League win against Sheffield Wednesday.
Monk continued to strengthen his squad as he recruited Kyle Bartley from his former Club Swansea City. Bartley spent his teenage days with Arsenal before spending loan spells with Sheffield United and Rangers before signing for the Welsh club in 2012.
Monk’s third piece of business in the transfer window was the loan signing of Hadi Sacko from Sporting Lisbon. The young Frenchman is versatile in the centre of the pitch and can perform in attacking positions. He spent the second half of last season on loan with Ligue 2 side Sochaux, where he scored two goals in 14 appearances.
After admitting that defence was a place that he wanted to strengthen, Monk boosted his defence with the capture of Robert Green on a one-year deal. The former QPR ‘keeper became a free agent after his release from Loftus Road earlier this summer.
Bournemouth and Republic of Ireland midfielder Eunan O’Kane sealed a two-year deal with the Whites on deadline day. He made 118 appearances for the Cherries, aiding them in two promotions after signing in 2012. However he is yet to make a first-team appearance this season after playing 16 Premier League games last season for Eddie Howe’s side.
Gary Monk managed to successfully persuade Sunderland’s Liam Bridcutt to make a return to Elland Road after a successful loan-spell last season. Bridcutt spent only half of the season with the Whites however despite this he was nominated for the Club’s player of the season award.
The Leeds defensive ranks continued to be bolstered as Leeds stole the signature of Luke Ayling from Bristol City on a three-year contract. The former Arsenal right-back failed to appear for the Gunners before joining Yeovil in 2010. Ayling made just over 160 league appearances for the Glovers before signing for City four years later.
Pablo Hernandez joined Leeds United on-loan for six months from Qatari side Al-Arabi in August. Hernandez and Monk know each other after previously being together at Swansea City, where Hernandez made 71 appearances. Hernandez is expected to make his permanent in January.
Pontus Jansson made the move from Italian side Torino on-loan after making just 16 appearances in Serie A since signing from Malmö in 2014. The 25-year-old has eight caps with Sweden and was an unused substitute at Euro 2016.
Matt Grimes was another Swansea player to be reunited with former manager Gary Monk as he signed on a season long loan. Grimes made four appearances for the Welsh club last season before heading to Ewood Park on-loan with Blackburn Rovers.
Monks’s final piece of transfer business was the signing of Kemar Roofe from League One side Oxford. Roofe, 23, spent just a year at Oxford before making the move to Elland Road for a fee reported to be around £3million.
The ‘Actual’ Completed Departures:
Lewis Cook departed Elland Road for Bournemouth’s Principality Stadium for an undisclosed fee following an impressive season for the Whites. The Football League Yong Player of the Year award winner earned himself a move to the Premier League side after excelling in the Championship.
The only other departure from Monk’s squad was Casper Sloth’s move to Danish club Aalborg BK on a three-year deal. The 24-year-old had failed to get a permanent place in the first team during his two-year spell with the Whites. The Denmark international originally signed for Leeds in 2014 from Aarhus but went on to feature just 14 times.
Defender Scott Wootton is another that departed at the end of last season after he became aware that the contract extension offered to him last season was not finalised. The former Liverpool defender was announced as released on the Club’s retained list.
The False Rumours:
The Whites were rumoured to be interested in Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo towards the end of the transfer deadline, however Reds boss Arsene Wenger saw the flop in his plans for the first-team.
23-year-old Sanogo first signed at the Emirates Stadium three years ago, but scoring just one goal for the North London side has seen him denied first-team opportunities thus spending the majority of his time out on-loan.
With Wenger confirming the signing of Lucas Perez it was believed that Gary Monk would be able to capture the front-man, but according to the Sun Wenger denied the former Swansea boss the chance to sign the former Crystal Palace and Charlton forward.
Another rumour which proved to be false was Rotherham United’s interest in Toumani Diagouraga. The 29-year-old midfielder had fallen out of the squad since starting the Club’s Championship opening game of the season which ended as a 3-0 loss at Queens Park Rangers.
The QPR defeat was the last time that Diagouraga featured in one of Monk’s 18-mean squads, and it was believed that former his former boss Mark Warburton, who managed Diagouraga at Brentford, was looking to entice the defensive midfielder to Scottish side Rangers.
United planned to offload the midfielder before last night’s 11pm deadline, however it seemed a deal failed to happen as Monk looked to replace the former Bees player.
Many people had Luke Murphy as one to leave Elland Road during this season’s summer transfer window, with a move away from Yorkshire looking likely after Monk deemed the midfielder surplus to requirement. In July he took a pay-cut in an attempt to stay at the Club and, even though the Club were rumoured to be off-loading Murphy, he managed to stay on at Elland Road.
22-year-old Charlie Taylor was also expected to be leaving Elland Road after handing in a transfer request to owner Massimo Cellino. Leeds now run the risk of potentially losing Taylor for free next summer if the full-back makes a move abroad. However, in a statement issued at the beginning of August, United insisted Taylor would be staying at Elland Road.
