Leeds United make bargain offer for Japanese midfield star after outbidding Bundesliga side

Leeds United have tabled a bid for Fortuna Dusseldorf and Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka, according to reports in Germany.

Midfield is an area Leeds are looking to strengthen ahead of the transfer deadline after the departures of Tyler Adams, Marc Roca and Adam Forshaw. It has prompted them to bid for Rangers star Glen Kamara, but it appears Tanaka is on their agenda too.

According to Bild, they have made a bid for the 2. Bundesliga star. Their offer surpasses a €2.7m (£2.3m) package put on the table already by German top-flight side Stuttgart, although it is not yet clear how high Leeds have gone with their own offer.

Tanaka has long since made it clear that he wants to leave Fortuna Dusseldorf, who would welcome the offer from Leeds more than the one from Stuttgart due to its superior value.

Even though he is still under contract for another two years, it seems Tanaka could be set for a change of scenery over the next couple of days if Leeds’ bid is acceptable.

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The 24-year-old has made 59 appearances for his current club since they brought him to Europe in 2021. Featuring in a range of midfield roles, he has scored two goals and provided four assists in that time.

Over the winter, he was included in Japan’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar, a tournament at which he scored a winning goal in a group-stage match against Spain.

Ao Tanaka taking next step

Before his spell with Fortuna Dusseldorf, Tanaka came through the ranks with Kawasaki Frontale in his native country, leaving them after 94 appearances, 10 goals and nine assists.

Coming to Leeds would give Tanaka his first taste of English football. Simultaneously, he could become the first Japanese player to appear for the club in competitive action (Yosuke Ideguchi never made it past pre-season friendly outings).

Leeds have lost a few players to German clubs this summer – namely Robin Koch, Brenden Aaronson and Maximilian Wober – but now have a chance to bring someone in from a club in that territory.

Tanaka would be the first player to move from Fortuna Dusseldorf to Leeds if he was to complete the move. But as seen in a few examples this summer (Nadiem Amiri springs to mind), there could yet be time for twists and turns until anything is finalised.