With less than two months to go before the January transfer window opens for business, there is already speculation about what Leeds United are going to do to their squad.
The Whites have picked up 11 points in 11 Premier League matches and sit one point above the relegation zone as a newly-promoted team, which is a respectable, but not ideal, position to be in.
Daniel Farke may want to bolster his squad with more quality in the offensive areas, because the team has only scored 11 goals in their 11 top-flight matches so far this season.
The lack of goals for the Championship champions has not been because of a lack of creativity, though, as they have missed too many high-quality opportunities in the final third.
Leeds United’s biggest xG underperformers
25/26 Premier League
xG
Goals
xG differential
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
2.89
1
-1.89
Jayden Bogle
0.88
0
-0.88
Brenden Aaronson
1.79
1
-0.79
Joel Piroe
0.73
0
-0.73
Pascal Struijk
0.65
0
-0.65
Dan James
0.47
0
-0.47
Jack Harrison
0.41
0
-0.41
As you can see in the table above, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been particularly wasteful with the chances that have been created for him in the Premier League.
Former Leeds striker Patrick Bamford signed for Sheffield United earlier this week, and the Whites need to be looking for their next version of the English forward.
Why Leeds need to find their next Patrick Bamford
The experienced marksman left Elland Road on a free transfer in the summer after he failed to score a single goal in 18 appearances in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore.
It is not last season’s Bamford that Leeds need to find a new version of, though. Instead, the 49ers need to find Farke’s own version of Bamford from the 2020/21 campaign under Marcelo Bielsa.
After Leeds were last promoted to the Premier League, in the summer of 2020, the former Chelsea and Middlesbrough attacker played a pivotal role in the club’s survival and eventual top-half finish in their first season back in the big time.
The left-footed centre-forward scored 17 goals, including a hat-trick against Aston Villa in the highlights above, and provided seven assists in 38 appearances in the division in that term.
Since that impressive season from the former England international, no Leeds player has scored more than 13 goals in a single Premier League campaign.
Leeds United’s top Premier League scorers since 20/21
Season
Top goalscorer
Goals
25/26
Noah Okafor
Joe Rodon
Lukas Nmecha
2
22/23
Rodrigo
13
21/22
Raphinha
11
20/21
Patrick Bamford
17
As you can see in the table above, the club’s top three scorers in the current term have all managed just two goals, which speaks to the lack of outstanding goalscorers within the squad.
This illustrates how badly the Whites need to find their next version of 2020/21 Bamford, due to their lack of goalscorers, and they are reportedly interested in a star who could be exactly that.
Leeds chasing move for Eredivisie star
According to LeedsUnitedNews, the Premier League new boys are eyeing up a swoop for AZ Alkmaar centre-forward Troy Parrott in the upcoming January transfer window.
The report claims that the Whites are now looking at signing the Ireland international to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch, as they chase a winter deal for the marksman.
It adds that Leeds had scouts in attendance to watch his performance for the Republic of Ireland against Portugal earlier this week, when he netted twice against Roberto Martinez’s side.
The same outlet has posted an update on Farke’s future at Elland Road, explaining that the 49ers are not ready to pull the plug on him yet, but that they could be forced to make a decision if results do not improve.
With this in mind, Leeds could save themselves from having to remove the German head coach from his role by signing Parrott to save his job in January.
Why Leeds should sign Troy Parrott
The Whites should swoop for the Irish centre-forward because his performances in the Netherlands this season suggest that he has the quality to be Bamford 2.0, which would help to push the club up the table.
Per FotMob, Leeds are 10th in the Premier League for xPTS (15) and have underperformed their xG of 13.2 by 2.2, as they have only scored 11 goals. This suggests that Farke and his coaching staff have not been rewarded for the performances that they have coached, due to poor finishing.
These statistics indicate that it is not the German boss who should be under fire for where the team are in the division, and that signing a clinical striker could change the perception of the job that he is doing in the dugout.
Parrott, as shown in the graphic above, enjoyed an incredibly prolific first season with AZ Alkmaar in the 2024/25 campaign, netting 20 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions.
The former Tottenham Hotspur youngster, once dubbed “phenomenal” by former boss Ryan Lowe, has proven that his form last term was not a flash in the pan, as he has carried his exceptional goalscoring exploits into the current season.
Troy Parrott – 25/26
Eredivisie
Conference League
Appearances
7
7
xG
5.56
N/A
Goals
6
7
Minutes per goal
87
59
Conversion rate
25%
N/A
Big chances created
2
3
Assists
0
1
As you can see in the table above, Parrott has scored 13 goals in 14 appearances in all competitions for AZ Alkmaar, on top of the two goals that he scored for Ireland against Portugal.
This means that the striker has already scored an eye-catching 15 goals for club and country in the 2025/26 campaign, whilst no Leeds player has scored more than twice in all competitions.
Parrott, per Sofascore, has scored 37 goals from 30.67 xG in the Eredivisie since the start of the 2023/24 season, which suggests that he is the clinical striker that Leeds are crying out for at the moment.
Therefore, the Ireland international could be the next Bamford to fire the Whites to safety with his prolific goalscoring, whilst saving Farke’s job in the process by making the most of his coaching to improve the results picked up by the team.
