Summary Glen Kamara's move is a great one for Leeds but another midfield target had the potential to be an upgrade. They ended up moving to the Premier League in a £15m deal. He was one of the stars of the Championship during the 2022/23 campaign.

Leeds United endured a summer laden with frustrating encounters and transfer missteps, but in the end, have come out with a squad still stacked with quality.

One impressive addition was that of Glen Kamara, although there were a few key targets that they may rue failing to sign,

How good is Glen Kamara?

Kamara made his Elland Road switch on Deadline Day after being linked throughout the summer.

The Finland international brings a wealth of experience with him to Yorkshire, and for just £5.5m, it marks an outstanding coup that will instantly bolster their engine room alongside supplementary deals for Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.

Having starred for four impressive years with Rangers, of his own admission it felt like the right time to move on and flex his services elsewhere.

After all, when on form he can do anything in midfield, which he outlined: "I can play box-to-box, six or eight, it depends and hopefully I can show everybody how good I am."

Joel Piroe (Swansea City)

€14m

Ethan Ampadu (Chelsea)

€8.1m

Glen Kamara (Rangers)

€5.8m

Karl Darlow (Newcastle United)

€0.4m

Sam Byram (Norwich City)

Free

Jaidon Antony (AFC Bournemouth)

Loan

Joe Rodon (Tottenham Hotspur)

Loan

Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur)

Loan

Ilia Gruev (Werder Bremen)

Undisclosed

All fees via Football Transfers

This varied skill set was best outlined during the 2021/22 season, where he maintained a 7.01 average rating in the Scottish Premiership, buoyed by six goal contributions, a 91% pass accuracy, 1.3 key passes and one tackle per game, via Sofascore. For context, such a rating would have made him Leeds' top performer last year in the top flight.

Whilst Daniel Farke is likely keen to get him integrated, there will be one of those aforementioned failed transfers in Gus Hamer that continues to irk him.

Did Leeds United nearly sign Gustavo Hamer?

Having pursued a move for Hamer in early August, who had torn up the Championship in recent seasons, the allure of the Premier League proved too much for the Brazil-born Dutchman.

However, it still drew questions when he chose Sheffield United as his next destination, with pundit Chris Sutton noting: "Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom has got a heck of a job on his hands to beat the drop after losing his best players this summer without replacements arriving."

Although the 26-year-old midfielder does bolster Heckingbottom's ranks significantly, it remains to be seen whether Hamer alone has enough to spearhead their survival push.

That being said, the former Coventry star is in possession of a wealth of quality capable of winning matches on his own, having showcased that across numerous years.

Just last term saw him very nearly push the Sky Blues to promotion, with his 7.35 average rating the highest of any within his team and the third-highest in the entire division. This was largely aided by his 19 goal contributions, alongside 1.8 key passes and 2.6 tackles per game, as they were thwarted in the playoff final, via Sofascore.

The year prior he had scored three and assisted nine in the league too, posting similar numbers across the board. He truly is an outstandingly consistent creator, having added plenty of goals to his game of late too.

To compare these figures with Kamara's makes for painful reading, as Hamer blows him completely out of the water in every regard. When bursting forward the Blades' new man always pushes the limits of his opposition defenders with teasing passes and powerful strikes, and yet he has the intelligence and combative nature to contribute at the back too.

Whilst the former Gers man might also boast these attributes, they are admittedly on a far smaller scale. It is, therefore, no surprise to see the £15m Hamer having been lauded by his former boss Mark Robins on numerous occasions, with one quote reading that he has been "phenomenal."

Kamara will likely thrive under Farke's tutelage, but given the other man in question is already shining in the top flight, it marks a huge case of what could have been, had the Yorkshire outfit been more incisive in their push.