Leeds United being snubbed by Aston Villa man should come as little surprise: View | OneFootball

Aston Villa playmaker Emi Buendia was an ambitious late target for Leeds United, but far too unrealistic.

Leeds United CEO Angus Kinnear has revealed that the club made efforts to sign Aston Villa playmaker Emi Buendia during the summer transfer window.

Georginio Rutter was sold for £40 million after Brighton activated a release clause in his deal. There's no doubt that the Frenchman was one of Leeds' best players and one of the Championship's best creators, and that they will be worse off without him after failing to recruit an established specialist in the playmaker role.

Despite eyeing big-money deals with £13 million bids for the likes of Gus Hamer and SC Freiburg's Roland Sallai also looked at after reportedly pushing hard to land the Hungarian in a £10 million deadline-day deal, Leeds came up short in securing a similar profile of attacking midfielder.

The Whites were missing one piece of the jigsaw towards the end of the window, as many fans feel that Leeds have failed to replace Rutter adequately, as they arguably don’t have a standout natural number ten in the squad, even if the likes of Joel Piroe, Brenden Aaronson and Wilfried Gnonto can be deployed centrally.

Leeds eyed late window move for Emi Buendia

Former Norwich City star Buendia has now been revealed by Kinnear as a player who was on the club’s shortlist to come in as an attacking midfielder. He is currently at Aston Villa and looking to get back to top speed following a lengthy injury layoff due to an ACL issue that has seen him miss over a year of football.

However, Leeds were looking at striking an ambitious deal for the diminutive Argentine, as Kinnear revealed on his annual appearance on The Square Ball podcast that Leeds made contact with Villa to sign the playmaker.

He said: "One of the things which has been a theme across the summer is getting to players who really wanted to play for Leeds United. That’s really hard because it surprised me how much players want to play in the Premier League versus the Championship.

"Buendia was on our list, and very clearly [the feedback] from Aston Villa [was that he] wasn’t going to be released, and the player didn’t want to come back down. He felt he’d served his time at Championship level."

Not signing a 'No.10' is something that could become quite apparent as a mistake in games to come this season, with Leeds lacking answers in the final third with a player of immense flair and vision, who is also capable of punching passes through lines and into congested areas with plenty of traffic in front of them.

Buendia, of course, was Farke’s star creative presence during both promotion-winning seasons in 18/19 and 20/21 with Norwich and he earned the Championship Player of the Season accolade in the latter campaign, where he was nothing short of spectacular, in what was one of the best individual seasons from a player in the modern era of the second tier.

He scored 15 goals and notched a further 16 assists in 39 league games, predominantly playing in a free role off the right-hand side, where he was Farke's creative force, and by far the Championship's outstanding individual, so it is unsurprising that the 27-year-old sees himself as above Championship standard, even after a long injury layoff.

Whether it was dribbling past full-backs, defence-splitting passes, crosses put on a sixpence for his teammates, or having the ability to score any type of goal with both feet, Buendia was a magician with an endless bag of tricks to find an answer to any solution Farke required.

Leeds' unrealistic pursuit of Emi Buendia

In some ways, Leeds were right to target high-quality players this summer and at least ask the question regarding a player of Buendia's talents, as they require more than just a squad filler playmaker to come off the bench.

There’s obvious merit for the club looking at these sorts of signings who are way too good for the level because Buendia at top form and fully fit virtually guarantees promotion. The frustration will be that there’s a balance between what is highly ambitious and what is totally unrealistic and Buendia tipped the scales towards the latter here.

Many will be looking at Leeds’ investment in the summer knowing that an attacking midfielder with an eye for a killer pass to thread the needle was needed. Too often last season, Leeds have leaned heavily on the ball-carrying and genius of Georgi Rutter and Crysencio Summerville through a moment of inspiration, without having a player operating centrally that can break lines with a pass.

Farke had Buendia pulling the strings at Norwich consistently, even if not always as a central player, where he could still have operated in this current setup. They may well feel that the likes of Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani have bolstered their ranks enough as players who can make a difference in the final third and conjure up match-winning moments.

However, the central playmaker who progresses the ball as a pass-first player would have been more beneficial, as the majority of Leeds' attacking threats are dribblers with speed and agility, as opposed to a Buendia who is equally capable of beating players or playing killer passes.

He is a quality player who has shown he belongs in the Premier League, and he will want to be part of an Aston Villa squad that are in the Champions League as he recovers from his serious knee injury. Even with that consideration, he’s too good for the Championship and would rightly want to move elsewhere in the top flight if he was going to leave Villa this summer.

Having said that, despite failing to add a player of that profile with the right skill set, the Whites have one of the strongest attacks in the league yet again. The likes of Rutter, Jaidon Anthony, and Summerville have essentially been replaced in the first-team by Solomon, Ramazani, and the return of Brenden Aaronson from loan.

A restructuring of Leeds' forward line could even see Gnonto feature centrally on a more regular basis, with both Ramazani and Dan James comfortable at attacking the box from the right. However, Solomon looks likely to challenge for that starting berth down the left, which could see Gnonto take up Rutter's position centrally with a free role.

Farke and Buendia may well have been a match made in heaven, but these are the solutions he has to think about for now, but the club aiming for his former star man was a waste of time, with other more realistic targets who would have been open to Championship football now missed out on. Kinnear's reveal will therefore come as a frustration to supporters.