Victor Orta has been busy in the early weeks of Leeds United's summer, as the Whites have already signed USA international Brenden Aaronson and are expected to complete a deal for Danish right-back, Rasmus Kristensen in the next few days. Notably, both those players spent last season at Red Bull Salzburg and have previously been managed by Leeds' head coach, Jesse Marsch.
According to reports, Orta may return to Salzburg one more time, as a link to the Red Bulls striker, Junior Adamu, emerged yesterday. Unlike Aaronson and Kristensen, Adamu has not played under Marsch, as he joined spent time at Salzburg's feeder club, FC Liefering, before going on loan to Swiss Super League side FC St Gallen. 21/22 was his first season involved with the Austrian champions' first-team squad.
The questions many Leeds fans will be asking are simple: firstly, would he be a good fit in the team and what would his role be? Secondly, can he step up to the Premier League? LeedsLive has the answers.
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Where would he fit and what would his role be?
Although Marsch primarily played a 4-2-2-2 during his time at Salzburg, his replacement, Matthias Jaissle, has primarily utilised a 4-4-2 diamond shape. Adamu played as part of a front two, as he and Karim Adeyemi - who has since agreed a deal to move to Borussia Dortmund - were the two most regular starters up front. However, Salzburg had a wealth of options up front, with Noah Okafor and Benjamin Sesko also playing regularly, meaning Adamu was often rotated out.
In terms of the fit, Leeds don't currently have the midfield options to play a 4-4-2 diamond very effectively but the roles in a front two are very similar, whether the midfield is set up in a diamond or with the two sitting and two in-front shape of the 4-2-2-2. As Leeds have not had two strikers to choose from since Marsch arrived at the club, it's difficult to know exactly how he would like his front two to work, although the idea of Patrick Bamford operating high up and occupying centre-backs - as well as receiving the ball back to goal and linking the play - with Joe Gelhardt floating around just behind him, is a tantalising one.
At Salzburg, Adeyemi and Adamu operated with the now Dortmund striker looking to stretch opponents and run in behind as often as possible, with Adamu a little more withdrawn. Although, not really the link-player, Adeyemi was seen as the 'main' centre-forward and this was borne out by the fact that he contributed 19 league goals, compared to Adamu's seven.
However, that is not to say that Adamu doesn't have the attributes to play higher up. The 21-year-old Nigerian has excellent physical attributes and although he doesn't have the frightening speed of his German strike partner, he is quick, has good strength and an excellent leap. It is questionable whether he would have the same link-up abilities as Bamford, as Leeds' number nine is particularly good in that area of his game and it is something that none of his replacements have managed to replicate in his absence.
This could be a problem, should Adamu be needed to cover for Bamford in a 4-2-3-1 as a lone striker. Although Marsch traditionally has a preference for a 4-2-2-2, he ended up using an alternative formation for most of his games as Leeds manager and next season could see that continue. That would mean that Leeds would possibly need a striker more capable of playing with his back to goal than Adamu.
To be clear, the Nigerian would certainly offer more than Daniel James did in that sense. However, in any new signing, Leeds may be better served finding a player who has more similarities with Bamford, should the striker be injured as often as he was in 21/22.
Away from the issue of playing back-to-goal, Adamu would be a natural fit into Marsch's pressing system. Although Jaissle has used different shapes to Marsch, much of the philosophy is the same and he would surely adapt very quickly. Additionaly to that, his physical attributes are perfectly suited to a high pressing team.
Is he good enough for the Premier League?
Interestingly, whilst Adamu was the primary partner for Adeyemi in the Austrian Bundesliga, in the Champions League he was more often used from the bench. The 21-year-old did score Salzburg's goal in the 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena but he came on as a sub to replace the injured Noah Okafor, who was the preferred option in European competition. This suggests that Jaissle didn't quite trust Adamu against the elite opposition in the Champions League.
It's also worth noting that Adamu's minutes would been cut significantly, had Sekou Koita not picked up a serious injury just two games into the season. The Malian forward was set to partner Adeyemi up front in 21/22, after he had scored 14 goals in 17 games for Salzburg in 20/21. As such, Adamu's journey to the first-team was accelerated.
The young striker's output is also something that suggest he is perhaps not ready to make the jump to the Premier League at this stage. Whilst he is undoubtedly talented, his seven league goals was bettered by Okafor's nine, despite his teammate playing almost 700 fewer minutes in the competition.
With that in mind, it would be a little surprising to see Leeds move for the Nigerian. Adamu is an exciting player and will perhaps be one of the next off the Salzburg production line. It might just be a season too soon for him though. He could be one that Orta keeps an eye on and returns for in the future.
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