![\"Ao](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2-Split-64-1140x641.jpg\")
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Credit: Imago<\/p>\n
![\"Samuel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ce00f0e876bf059a9c5b7ec7b8d83c54.png\")
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Tue 3 February 2026 21:10, UK <\/p>\n
Ao Tanaka will be hoping for more Premier League starts in the second half of the season.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tanaka has been linked with leaving Leeds<\/a>\u00a0in recent weeks, although a move never materialised in the winter window.<\/p>\n The Japan international has been left on the bench multiple times this season, with Ilia Gruev being preferred in midfield.<\/p>\n Tanaka has flourished for Leeds<\/a> when he\u2019s been given the chance, with a highlight being his 96th-minute equaliser against Liverpool on 6 December.<\/p>\n The winter transfer window closed on Monday, but Daniel Farke<\/a> has now placed a lot of faith in the 27-year-old to step up for the Whites.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Leeds never planned to replace Ao Tanaka<\/p>\n Leeds had a quiet winter transfer window<\/a>, with the signing of Facundo Buonanotte on loan from Chelsea being the only notable arrival. <\/p>\n Tanaka<\/a> could have certainly asked for a move away from LS11 due to the fact that he\u2019s fifth in the pecking order for midfielders.<\/p>\n However, The Athletic<\/a> reported on Tuesday that every position on the pitch was discussed between the club\u2019s hierarchy and Farke in recruitment meetings, apart from central midfield.<\/p>\n Tanaka\u2019s Premier League stats (via FotMob)<\/p>\n They specifically wanted a left-sided back-up option in defence, but as the window progressed, targets fitting the correct profile in this role failed to materialise.<\/p>\n Although several fans won\u2019t be overly thrilled with how the month has gone, Tanaka will be delighted to get the chance to prove his worth in a Leeds<\/a> shirt.<\/p>\n After becoming a hero in the Championship-winning campaign, he now has the perfect opportunity to build on some of his performances in the Premier League. <\/p>\n The fact that Leeds didn\u2019t even consider signing a new central midfielder shows how much of a part he can play during the rest of the season.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s safe to say that the Whites were linked with several different targets, despite it now emerging that they didn\u2019t want to replace Tanaka.<\/p>\n Which midfielders were Leeds linked with in the winter transfer window?<\/p>\n Leeds were interested in Martin Baturina<\/a>, and it felt as though the midfield position was one of their priorities.<\/p>\n Hibernian\u2019s Josh Mulligan was an alternative option, with Nottingham Forest also showing some intent to sign him.<\/p>\n However, it felt clear that the Scottish outfit wasn\u2019t prepared to let him go mid-season.<\/p>\n Eduard Spertsyan was a more attack-minded target, although the addition of Buonanotte meant that the Whites didn\u2019t need to splash the cash on the Armenia international.<\/p>\n Tochukwu Nnadi was also rumoured to be Farke\u2019s shortlist, although Marseille snapped up the Zulte Waregem man on deadline day.<\/p>\n None of those moves were close to being completed, and as a result, Tanaka is certainly the biggest beneficiary.<\/p>\n Stay up to date this winter with our\u00a0Leeds transfer tracker<\/a>. Click to see every done deal at Elland Road, plus expert reaction from our team of writers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Imago Tue 3 February 2026 21:10, UK Ao Tanaka will be hoping for more Premier League starts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[12409,748,1385,393,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-740501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-ao-tanaka","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-daniel-farke","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116009211842603112","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n Stat<\/td>\n Ao Tanaka<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Appearances<\/td>\n 20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Starts<\/td>\n 7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Goals<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pass accuracy<\/td>\n 83.8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tackles<\/td>\n 17<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Interceptions<\/td>\n 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n ![\"Tanaka](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Tanaka-stats-819x1024.jpg\")
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