We're eight games into the new season and I thought I'd look at how the new signings are doing after a close season of rebuilding with many ins and outs, some of them expected, some not.
Leeds are currently in 14th place and struggling to find consistency and form. We started so well with 2 wins and a draw in the first three games including that 3-0 home win over Chelsea but since then, we've slipped down the table with some poor results including last weekend's 2-1 away defeat to Palace.
Even with Bamford back, we found it difficult to create opportunities and Rodrigo, who started so well with 3 goals in as many games, appears to have lost some confidence after a shoulder dislocation in the 1-1 draw against Everton. One of the games we should have taken all 3 points from.
Let's start with the outs and after struggling last season, the loss of our saviour Bielsa and the appointment of American, Jess Marsch, and only saving our Premier League status by a combination of good fortune and stoicism, we all knew we'd seen the last of Raphinha and our very own Leeds lad, Kalvin Phillips. So it quickly came to pass that they both left for a total of around £85m GBP to Barcelona and Manchester City respectfully. Great business for the club, but sadness for the fans.
Kalvin and Raphinha. Their final swansong!
I'm not going to gloat about their slight misfortunes as Raphinha seems to have lost his sparkle and is only given about an hour a game and Kalvin has played a total of 15 minutes as he struggled with some fierce competition in the City squad before going for an operation on a long-term troublesome shoulder injury because both of them were great for Leeds and as a genuine supporter, can see why they needed to move on.
So here goes, in no particular order. My views on the first five of Leeds' nine new signings this season.
Rasmus Kristensen
Brought in for £9.7m as an obvious long-term replacement for Luke Ayling from RB Salzburg. Danish international Kristensen has all the credentials to be a solid warrior of a fullback, the type we love at Leeds!
Last season in the Austrian League, he'd even scored 8 goals and we had great hopes as the season kicked off but I have to say, he seemed to find the step-up to the Premier League difficult and in his first few games, was lacking pace and tactical nous, getting himself into difficulties, making mistakes that led to a goal at Wolves, and not appearing to be able to get a grip on his game.
He himself said in an interview recently that he had found it hard but was determined to improve and increase his fitness levels.
In the first game back after our enforced, month-long break against Palace he looked like a different player and was possibly man-of-the-match for Leeds, despite the loss.
He has always got up and down the wing and I think, one of his strengths is his ball distribution but against Palace, he did something that very few Premier League defenders can do, and that is to keep Wilfred Zaha quiet.
Rasmus, I am sure, will become a Leeds hero and if he continues to improve, will no doubt be one of the best defenders in the league.
Luis Sinisterra
Another international. This time an exciting, Colombian midfielder who came to us from the Dutch side Feyenoord who took £22.5m for his services. This looked like a bit of a gamble on our part as Feyenoord seemed to let him go quite easily but the 23-year-old has already bagged three goals and looks to be the exciting South American replacement for Raphinha we hoped he would be.
During the international break, he also hit a hat-trick for Colombia as they fought back from a half-time 3-0 deficit to draw 3-3 against the mighty Mexico and the Leeds United social media lit up!
It's not all good news however as he stupidly got himself sent off in the 1-1 draw against villa for a second bookable offence when he stuck a foot out to stop a free kick from being taken quickly. I guess this is the price you pay with these exciting and passionate South Americans and after serving his ban will no doubt be firing Leeds forward and adding to his goal tally.
If we can keep him, another player who has the potential to become a Leeds legend.
Tyler Adams
The first of two USA internationals, I can't help but really, really like this guy. Known well by Marsch from his time at RB Leipzig, he was signed soon after the summer window opened for the not-insubstantial sum of £20m.
A holding midfielder, but in a different vein to Kalvin, he just goes about his job silently and with a killer's effectiveness. Adams runs all day and never shirks a tackle, he has the ball skills and temperament and will no doubt play consistently, week in, week out. That's what we need at Leeds!
On top of all this, when I've seen him interviewed, he comes across as a really genuine and nice bloke who 'gets' the club. He has settled effortlessly into the club, life in the Premier League and the City and no one could fail to not like his affable nature.
Probably my favourite of the summer signings at this point, I feel he is going to be part of the fixtures and fittings at Elland Road for years to come.
Brenden Aaronson
I think Aaronson was the signature signing which was confirmed just a couple of days after that deep breath that signalled out Premier League survival. Aaronson has infinite energy and trickery and can make effortless-looking runs from midfield into the box. This skill almost got him his first goal on the opening day of the season was cruelly taken away from him by the league and credited as an own goal but also finally got him into the records with a goal against Chelsea.
He is an exciting-looking player and probably well worth the £25m we paid for him from RB Salzburg.
I do, however, have a few doubts about him which I think are justified after the recent battles we have had. He is not a big guy and appears to allow himself to be pushed around. He looks like he needs to get his own way and isn't happy when he gets, all too easily sometimes, taken off the ball by a big defender. This temperament worries me somewhat but I think over time, and with a little bulking up he could become a serious force and top creative midfielder.
He is still only 21 and after a season of hard training and stuffing himself full of Yorkshire Pudding could just emerge as a much stronger and improved player who has a bag full of both goals and assists to his name.
Marc Roca
Brought for the bargain bin price of £10m from Bayern Munich no less than, this Spanish 25-year-old's career seemed to be stuttering a little as he really struggled for game time at Bayern. Like Adams, he plays a holding midfield role and goes about his duties tirelessly and without fuss. He has been getting subbed off in recent games and replaced by our old war horse Klich but I think this is more tactical as Klich offers a different kind of midfield role and personally, I'm not sure whether the team set-up is such that we need both Adams and Roca in the same team at the same time. Although solid, we seem to miss a little creativity in the front, and centre of the defence.
Either way, he has hit the ground running and integrated himself into the set-up really well, scored a goal and is another who could be here for a long time, albeit in not particularly spectacular fashion but solid and reliable when called upon. We need old heads to help us manage games, especially at the back.
