Bournemouth’s long wait for injury boost proves Leeds United have upgraded already with profit to spare

Tyler Adams of Bournemouth will not be on Leeds United’s “Christmas card list” this season, and fans won’t mind because Ethan Ampadu has been clearly better already.

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Leeds’ summer window was undoubtedly one of the most perplexing in recent memory, with players moving for no money as they activated loan terms put in place by the previous regime.

Top-flight moves for a number of players appeared to be intriguing, to say the least, given that many of them are performing poorly, which is why Daniel Farke is picking up the pieces in the EFL this season.

How is Tyler Adams doing?
Bournemouth were the scourge of Leeds in the summer window, taking advantage of their Premier League status to derail a number of Elland Road plans, as Max Aarons defected to the Cherries, as did Andoni Iraola, and they also snatched Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra from the club in August.

Sinisterra and Adams both threatened legal action to move to the South Coast, where the latter made a £23 million transfer, prompting CEO Angus Kinnear to declare that neither would be on the club’s “Christmas card list” as a result of their antics.

Adams arrived in Iraola’s team with the same injury that kept him out of Leeds’ survival run, but he has been confirmed to be in their squad for tonight’s EFL Cup match against Stoke City.

Will Leeds be concerned?

It would be intriguing to see how Adams progresses, because there is a top-flight talent there who was on show for us before his injury.

Having said that, Leeds fans and the club in general will be unconcerned with the USMNT captain now that we have someone far superior who has been totally healthy and impeccable in the interim:

Adams’ greatest strength for us was his ability to read the play against possession, cover a lot of territory, and easily break up attacks. That is something Ampadu does.

Adams’ main flaw was his proclivity to treat the ball like a hot potato, shifting rapidly without much advancement or even thought more often than not (via FBref):

As the first-receiver in our build-up, Ampadu has been outstanding for Farke and a big reason why Leeds not only dominate possession, but also look very dangerous with it, going from back to front in an instant against Watford at the weekend.

The club evidently hoped to keep Adams, but the level set by Ampadu here is one the American could not match – and all for a bargain sum of £7 million.