Forget Amiri - Leeds United should challenge Leicester City for late QPR transfer deal: Opinion | OneFootball

Following the arrivals of Joel Piroe and Djed Spence at Elland Road this week, Leeds United will turn their attention to making further additions at left-back, in central midfield, and recruiting a creative midfielder as well ahead of the deadline.

Daniel Farke's squad is, quite obviously, short of a playmaker and some invention in the final third to play in the number ten position, which is why there's been an interest in Nadiem Amiri.

On the back of Piroe's arrival, speculation around Amiri intensified, with The Athletic reporting that Leeds had agreed a fee with Bayer Leverkusen for the attacking midfielder.

It was reported later that night by BILD (via Get Football News Germany) that the 26-year-old had turned the Whites down despite the fact that it had been thought he was ready to fly to the UK to push a move closer to completion.

He then did fly to Leeds on Monday, but was quickly back in Germany with Leverkusen, and, according to Sky Sports reporter Marlon Irlbacher, Amiri's potential transfer to Leeds is now off.

As such, the deal is now dead in water after what Irlbacher defined as "crazy back and forth".

This was then confirmed by Phil Hay, who reported that a deal was officially off between the two parties.

Who should Leeds sign instead of Amiri? Would QPR's Ilias Chair be a good alternative?

Ilias Chair has been Queens Park Rangers' standout player for some time, especially last season, in what was a disappointing campaign for the West London club.

Chair scored five goals and registered nine assists in 42 appearances in all competitions and was rewarded for his form with an inclusion in the Morocco squad for the World Cup last year.

The 25-year-old's overall contribution for QPR reads 28 goals and 31 assists from 196 games, following his 2017 arrival from Lierse SK.

He has established himself as one of the most creative players in the Championship in recent years and if Leeds wish to look for an alternative option to Amiri, then they need look no further than the Moroccan. They are not short of wingers but lack a central creative player behind the striker.

Fortunately, Chair can operate in either role behind the striker, making him an ideal candidate to come in late in the window. Farke could use him as a playmaker through the middle, or off the right-hand side, much like he did with Emi Buendia at Norwich City.

He could thrive for the Whites and put up impressive numbers last season for a team that struggled, highlighting how he could scale up in a more progressive and dominant side.

They face competition for his signature, though, after Leicester City were initially linked to Chair back in May as a potential James Maddison replacement, but the England international has long gone and Chair has not arrived yet in the East Midlands.

However, , they still have a very strong interest in the midfield playmaker before the window closes.

It will be a huge blow for QPR to lose him as they would be without their prized asset having only narrowly avoided relegation last season as well, but he could be a reasonable price. Chair signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal with the club in January 2021. The Moroccan is under contract at Loftus Road until summer 2025 - though the club hold the option to extend that by an extra year.

That does strengthen their hand in negotiations, but Leeds should have the cash to make a deal happen. The only downside to Chair is that Amiri could operate as a more box-to-box midfielder, and Chair is more of an out-and-out number-ten.

Farke likes his most advanced midfielder to sit and play at the tip of the midfield trio in a 4-2-3-1 but also be capable of dropping deeper into a more 4-3-3-like shape as well. This would take a bit of coaching, but is something a player of Chair's quality is capable of.

His profile is one the Whites simply cannot overlook as the deadline looms closer, with the midfielder one of the best creative attacking talents in the division and someone that could elevate Leeds' plethora of attacking options out wide and up front to another level.