MAN CITY SUPERSTAR BRANDS LEEDS ATTACKER ‘EXCELLENT’ AS CELTIC ARE CRUSHED BY WHITES FOR MIDFIELD SIGNING
Recent Leeds United signing Manor Solomon has been branded “excellent” by an impressed Kevin De Bruyne, having told the Whites what to expect from the winger, while it has emerged that the Whites managed to see off a late challenge from Celtic to secure another summer arrival.
Solomon signed on the dotted line for the Whites in the final week of the transfer window, joining from Tottenham on a season-long loan deal and completing the third deal of the summer between the West Yorkshire side and the north London club, following earlier transfers for Archie Gray (£40m to Tottenham) and Joe Rodon (£10m to Leeds).
Indeed, Israel winger Solomon became the six of eight new players to eventually arrive at Elland Road, with Alex Cairns, Joe Rothwell, Largie Ramazani and the aforementioned Rodon arriving before him, before deadline day deals for Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt were also finalised by the Championship side.
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Solomon is arguably the biggest coup of all for the Whites. Having once scored home and away against Real Madrid in theb Champions League while at Shakhtar Donetsk, the attacker shone bright on his Leeds debut, winning the man of the match award and having played a huge role in the opening goal, scored by Mateo Joseph, in a 2-0 victory over Hull.
Capable of playing across the attack, Tottenham took the decision to let Solomon leave on loan after seeing his debut season in north London absolutely ravaged by a tear to his knee meniscus, which sidelined the player for around nine months, and limited him to just six appearances in all competitions.
De Bruyne hails Leeds new boy Solomon
Solomon’s goal contribution on his debut for the Whites offers big hopes for the season ahead and if he can maintain fitness over the course of the season, Daniel Farke and Co will feel they have pulled off a major transfer coup.
Manchester City superstar De Bruyne is also well aware of Solomon’s qualities, picking out the player as a dangerman for his Belgium side as they took on Israel in a Nations League clash on Friday evening.
The Red Devils ran out 3-1 winners in the game, with De Bruyne scoring twice.
However, in the build-up to the match, De Bruyne said of Solomon: “I know Manor Solomon from the Premier League. From Fulham, Tottenham, and now he has moved to Leeds.”
Asked if he can excel in the Championship, De Bruyne added: “He has the qualities to play at this level. He is an excellent player.”
That is a view shared by former Leeds boss Neil Redfearn, who also feels Solomon could prove a cheat code in the second tier.
“I thought Manor Solomon was probably the man of the match to be honest. He’s got a quality that is better than this level, you can obviously see that.
“Initially in the first 20 minutes it was like tackling smoke. He was unplayable at times. All those messages are good messages.”
Leeds beat Celtic to Ao Tanaka signing
Leeds’ late business in the window, together with successive wins over the Tigers and Sheffield Wednesday, matched with three successive clean sheets, has raised optimism that the Whites can once again prove strong challengers for promotion back to the Premier League.
Another man who also impresed last weekend was Tanaka, with the Japanese midfielder joining the Whites in a deal worth £3.4m (€4m / $4.5m) from Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Stepping off the bench in the 86th-minute, Tanaka looked impressive in his brief outing, putting himself about the pitch and showing off his qualities and having made 20 passes in that time and with a 90% completion rate.
Seen as an ideal foil for either Ethan Ampadu or Ilia Gruev in midfield and as a more progressive option than Glen Kamara, the man he effectively replaces for Leeds, Tanaka is expected to be a big player for the Whites over the course of the campaign.
At the time of his signing, it had emerged that Tanaka had chosen to move to Elland Road ahead of rival interest in his services from Getafe, while Ajax also tried to sanction his signing, albeit only on an initial loan.
However, it has now emerged that Celtic made an 11th-hour bid to steal the transfer from under Leeds United’s noses, while Dabish side Midtjylland and Serie A newcomers Como were also in the mix to sign the in-demand star.
The fact that he chose Leeds over the series of top flight sides certainly bodes well and the Whites will hope the bargain fee paid for his services turns out to be something of a masterstroke.
2024-09-07T11:41:06Z dg43tfdfdgfd