With Fortuna Dusseldorf coach Daniel Thioune happy to keep his Japan international out of the clutches of the Championship contenders, Leeds United’s £3.2 million bid for Ao Tanaka over the summer fell through.
Before the transfer market closed on September 1st, Leeds United tried and failed to sign a number of German-based midfielders, including Nadiem Amiri.
Before focusing on Glen Kamara of Rangers and Ilia Gruev of Werder Bremen, Leeds reportedly made a £3.2 million offer for Ao Tanaka.
Amiri was not selected for Bayer Leverkusen’s 25-man European roster, and Tanaka is now dealing with his own problems after only appearing for 20 minutes in Fortuna Dusseldorf’s last two Bundesliga games.two mates.
Ao Tanaka made a bid for Leeds United.
The international break therefore couldn’t have arrived at a better time for the former Kawasaki Frontale player. In that 4-1 thrashing of Germany, Tanaka scored off the bench, ending Hansi Flick’s career. On Tuesday, Tanaka led Japan to another swaggering triumph, this time against Turkey.
When club football starts this weekend, it will be interesting to see if Tanaka can now push his way back into the Fortuna XI. Saturday sees Fortuna traveling to Hansa Rostock. At the Merkur Spiel-Arena, coach Thioune’s relived remarks unmistakably indicate that Tanaka’s future is bright.
He is present. It’s probably not just his choice how long he stays here. The Rheinische Post is informed by Thioune that if not, he might have gone on.
“I’m glad that he stayed,”
comparative to Jude Bellingham
Tanaka, an all-action midfielder who has been compared to Jude Bellingham for his tendency to play box-to-box, had also been predicted to replace the now-Real Madrid star at Borussia Dortmund before the transfer market closed.
Klaus Alloffs, the director of Fortuna, says, “We don’t necessarily want to get rid of Ao. He wanted to switch (clubs) and play in the top division of football. so as to guarantee his spot on the national team. But it was impossible to realize that.
The good news is that Tanaka’s chances of playing for Japan at the international level look to be unaffected by life in the second division after being given the captain’s armband by Hajima Moriyasu.
Tanaka has now played 21 times for his nation. If he can continue moving forward at his current pace, more will probably follow.
