Leeds United have made a strong start to the Premier League and have almost matched Southampton’s points tally from last season despite having only played five games.
They are currently on track for a 53-point finish, which would almost certainly see them in the Premier League next season.
Daniel Farke’s success so far this season has been in part due to the summer recruitment. Premier League proven stars like Sean Longstaff and Dominic Calvert-Lewin joined from Newcastle United and Everton, respectively.
While these signings didn’t hit the ground running, with both of them missing in the League Cup penalty shootout that saw them get dumped out of the competition by Sheffield Wednesday. However, since then, they have both turned their performances around with Calvert-Lewin bagging his first goal in the 3-1 victory over Wolves.
While these stars have impressed, it was another one of Saturday’s goalscorers that the club are particularly happy with.
Leeds already happy with Okafor deal
Wolves were on the receiving end of another debut goal when Noah Okafor scored Leeds’ third goal. The Swiss forward joined from AC Milan in the summer after spending the back half of the season on loan at Serie A title winners Napoli.
Okafor joined as the second most expensive signing of the summer, behind Anton Stach, and the tenth most expensive signing in the club’s history at £18 million.
Leeds also went all out on his wages and made him the club’s fifth-highest-paid player on £72,500 a week. All of the players who are being paid more than him had come to Leeds from Premier League clubs.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Leeds, the 49ers Enterprises and Farke are already “very happy” with Okafor and the player himself is loving the Whites manager.
While having only played for 162 minutes in the lead, Okafor has shown his promise not only with his first goal against Wolves but with his overall effort levels.
Okafor’s a team player with the ability to become even better
With one goal under his belt, more look likely to come soon, with Okafor being in the top 30% of players for xG per 90 minutes of play. While he is in the bottom half of attackers for shots on target, he is getting himself into dangerous positions, which will see him scoring more goals now that he’s starting to find his feet at Elland Road.
Okafor has also played a significant role in some of Leeds’ other goals as he has found great success dribbling past players and getting the ball up the pitch. He is currently the top forward in the league for successful dribbles per 90 and is in the top 25% of players for touches in the opposition box, showing that when he does dribble, he gets the ball into dangerous areas.
However, what has been even more impressive about Okafor in the opening games has been his pressing and defensive output. The 25-year-old has completed every tackle that he has attempted and is one of the most valuable players in the league for defending counterattacks, being in the top 5% of players for ball recoveries.
Although it may seem early for Leeds to seem satisfied with the deal, Okafor has already started yielding results, and the underlying metrics behind his performances indicate that he is only going to do better and be a valuable asset to the team.
