Leeds United boss Daniel Farke on number 10 wish and late summer transfer window needs

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke says the club's recruitment team are working hard on vital offensive signings and a number 10 is still on his wishlist.

The Whites' first addition of the summer transfer window was a centre forward in the form of free agent Lukas Nmecha but since then they have focused on defensive, midfield and goalkeeper signings. The back to front approach to recruitment has given Leeds a more physical, solid look but it has been obvious in their pre-season games that they need much more quality up front.

That much was clear again in a 1-1 draw with AC Milan, though Leeds did cause problems for the Serie A side and scored a fine goal through Anton Stach.

With just 23 days left in the window the clock is ticking on their attempts to sign a first-choice striker, left winger and full-back cover. An enquiry for Bilal El Khannouss at Leicester City suggested they were still keen on bringing a number 10 to the club too, though they are yet to progress towards a deal on that front. And with Farke favouring a 4-3-3 formation in the friendlies so far, he was asked if he still wanted the profile of player they were not able to add last summer.

"Overall, the traditional genius number 10 is always a bit more important when you're fighting for promotion or for the title than perhaps to fight relegation," he said. "But in order to balance the squad and have proper options it's always beneficial to have such a type of player. To find a player in this position can fulfil our expectations we are still awake."

Farke continues to note that they still have the 'hard working' Brenden Aaronson and the 'goalscoring' Joel Piroe who can play at 10 but insists the club will continue to monitor for an opportunity to bring in a pass master to play in a central attacking role, as long as the money makes sense.

"We won't panic," he said. "And it's also not necessary just to bring a traditional number 10 in if he doesn't have the quality, so he's not on the pitch anyhow it makes no sense. But this time of player, same as the striker position and winger position, in the offence we need good additions in all positions in order to be competitive in the best league in the world."

Daniel Farke provides Leeds United transfer update

The YEP understands that Nico Gonzalez of Juventus is one of the players of interest out wide but almost two weeks on from Igor Paixao's rejection they have not been able to bring in a left winger. Their patience in waiting for Rodrigo Muniz to become available is weighed against the amount of time left in the window. And El Khannouss, who has a release clause of £24m that Leeds could but have not yet activated, is known to have other suitors. The lack of action, in supporters' eyes, is causing consternation for fans. Farke gives no guarantees that the business will get done but continues to admit they need it to happen.

"We will see," he said. "So on this level you just can be 100 per cent sure when the signing is done," he said. "We were also a few times pretty close to bring an offensive signing in, and they didn't materialise in the end.

"I would say, from the beginning of May until right now, we were not able to bring something over the line. It was not a problem, because we are really far in terms of our business in other positions, anyhow. But it's definitely a fact that we need top class signings, not just numbers, players to improve our sport. We are all 100 per cent aware, all our key people are aware and they're working really, really hard. But on this level also to spend so much it's not that easy to bring top players in.

"We make the best out of what we've got at the moment. But in order to be to have a squad that is capable to survive in the top flight we definitely need to strengthen our squad in these positions and we will do our best in the next coming days, before Everton but also further on, till the window is closed to prepare our squad in the best possible way, to give our supporters also a chance to dream, to establish ourselves."