Daniel Farke breaks silence on Mateo Joseph approach and explains Leeds United transfer policy
Daniel Farke has revealed Leeds United did receive approaches for some of their players but knocked them back.
The admission comes after it emerged the club rejected a bid worth more than £10m for Mateo Joseph over the weekend. Farke only has two fit strikers available with Patrick Bamford not yet back and set to miss Wednesday’s trip to Coventry City.
The Leeds boss was reluctant to comment on specific details but gave an extensive explanation of why he held such a strict transfer stance, admitting that one of his aims for the window was to ensure none of his core players left Elland Road.
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Farke said: “I never comment on details. Overall a very quiet window for us. In general, I think the main headline is that I trust my group.
“We are sitting after two-thirds of the season, top of the league. We are there with 63 points after 30 games. I don’t see one reason why we can't finish in the top position.
“Once you are in the top position in the league, you always have two effects for the window - first is that your players attract other clubs. The second is it is difficult to improve your own squad. When you are in the spotlight it attracts attention from your players. It was important for us to block out the interest.
“There were a few approaches for our players but we blocked it because we wanted to keep the core group. To hold together the core group was a key topic for us.”
Addressing the news regarding Joseph - who scored his third goal of the season against Cardiff City in Saturday’s 7-0 thrashing in what was his first strike since mid-October, Farke said: “Let's assume the rumours are right about Mateo - it’s a sign of his quality.
“That he is an important and interesting player. We have three top central strikers. Yes, we were a bit awake because Patrick [Bamford] was a bit unlucky in the last month in terms of injuries.
“We have three proper strikers and I trust them. Of course, if there are many injuries then sometimes it makes sense to have a fourth, fifth and sixth sixth striker there. But it could also create a problem with team togetherness and spirit”.
