How Leeds could sign the perfect upgrade for £25m+

Leeds United love a bargain, don’t they, with Daniel Farke assembling a competitive squad without truly breaking the bank in recent seasons.

Yes, there has been the odd marquee move for the likes of £40m man, James Trafford, but in an ever-inflated market, the signings of the likes of Jayden Bogle, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Ao Tanaka and James Justin, among others, look increasingly astute.

Harry Wilson has also joined the party following the expiry of his Fulham contract, following in the footsteps of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, both of whom also joined on free transfers a year ago.

Calvert-Lewin, fitness permitting, will again be front and centre at Elland Road this season, yet with speculation rife regarding the addition of a new number nine, where does that leave Nmecha?

Why it would make sense to cash in on Nmecha this summer

Despite only starting ten Premier League games in 2025/26, it’s worth saying that the German did still make an impact in his debut campaign in Leeds, scoring six times despite his reduced role.

For context, that was only one shy of Sunderland star, Brian Brobbey, while as many as the likes of Evanilson and Igor Jesus racked up at Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, respectively.

Certainly not a poor season then, with Nmecha also netting once in Leeds’ FA Cup run, but you’d be hard-pressed to suggest that he is truly a key member of the squad.

Indeed, considering Farke and co snapped him up on a free, it would make sense to consider a sale before the deadline, with the Whites able to make an immediate profit on him.

By all accounts, Championship promotion hopefuls, Wrexham, are said to be interested in signing the 27-year-old, a deal that would surely represent a real coup for the ambitious outfit.

Quite what the transfer fee would be remains to be seen, but if the second tier side do firm up their interest, Leeds would be foolish not to consider the possibility of a sale.

Of course, Farke will be wary of being caught short having already allowed Joel Piroe to head to West Ham United, but a new face in the forward line would ease any worries in that regard.

How Leeds could perfectly upgrade on Nmecha with late signing

The 49ers have firmly bolstered the spine of this team, following the additions of Trafford, Tarik Muharemovic and Nico Elvedi, but Leeds do still look a little light in attack, even with Wilson having joined earlier in the summer.

There have been ongoing links to Marseille man, Igor Paixao, yet whether the Yorkshire side actually intend to firm up that interest remains to be seen.

One man who also appears to be on the radar is Stuttgart’s Ermedin Demerovic, with FussballDaten reporting that Leeds are among the clubs keeping tabs on the Bosnian.

The likes of Galatasaray have already made an offer, although the Bundesliga outfit are only likely to sanction a sale of €30m (£25m) or above, suggesting that bid in that region would seemingly be accepted.

The report suggests that the wait is on to see if Galatasaray return with a fresh bid, or whether either Leeds or rival suitors Juventus make ‘official moves’ of their own, with it all to play for in that transfer chase.

At 28, Demirovic would be another experienced import from the Bundesliga, like Nmecha, yet one who perhaps would provide far greater reason for excitement than the current Leeds man.

In Nmecha’s case, he hadn’t ever truly been prolific nor consistent at Wolfsburg, scoring just eight league goals between 2022/23 and 2024/25.

The former Manchester City man’s best season came way back in 2021/22, albeit even then he only scored eight goals in Germany’s top-flight.

For comparison, Demirovic is attracting significant interest due to his fine goalscoring form for Stuttgart, ending 2025/26 with 12 Bundesliga goals to his name.

He did only start 17 games, yet scored at a rate of one every 126 minutes, with Nmecha, meanwhile, scoring once every 182 minutes in the Premier League.

That was no flash in the pan either, with Demirovic having scored 15 goals apiece in both 2024/25 and 2023/24 in the Bundesliga, while also netting eight times in 2022/23. Only in 2021/22, in which he netted just twice, was he outscored by Nmecha in that period.

In 85 games for Wolfsburg in total, Nmecha scored just 19 times. In 87 games for Stuttgart so far, Demirovic has scored 32 goals, further highlighting why he can be considered an upgrade.

Nmecha, as he showed last term, can be a useful foil for Calvert-Lewin and co, but if Farke really wants to take this team to the next level, then Demirovic might well be the man.