Who is Leeds United's best international signing of the transfer window? This is how you voted

Who is Leeds United’s best international signing of the transfer window so far?

Raphinha was Leeds United’s seventh signing from overseas, the ninth addition to Marcelo Bielsa’s first team squad in total this summer. Who has been the best acquisition in this window though?

Ahead of the 5pm deadline on October 16 for domestic transfer, we tweeted out a poll on Tuesday asking United fans who they think is the best signing so far. We have fans four options to choose from; Rodrigo, Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, and Raphinha. Here’s how 506 Leeds supporters voted:

4. Diego LlorenteComing last on this poll with just 1.4% of the vote if Spanish international defender Diego Llorente. Unsurprising given the Leeds fans are yet to see him feature for Bielsa’s side yet.

Diego Llorente was unknown when his name first cropped up, linking him with a move to the Whites. It came as a surprise as Leeds United had only completed the signing of German international defender Robin Koch just a few weeks beforehand.

Leeds secured the signature of Llorente on September 24, arriving from Spanish side Real Sociedad for a fee in the region of £18m, putting pen to paper on a four-year deal at Elland Road.

The 27-year-old joins the Whites with bags of experience, featuring in 169 games in La Liga since making his professional debut while at Real Madrid in 2014-15. Llorente will provide strong competition for the defense and could become a key asset for Leeds in the Premier League this season.

3. RaphinhaDespite 16 years away from the top-flight, Leeds United’s Director of Football, Victor Orta, has been busy this summer making some impressive signings compared to other newly promoted sides. And the arrival of Raphinha on deadline day could be the best of the new addition at Leeds according to 4.5% of the voters.

The 23-year-old, who was born and raised in the same city as Brazilian star Ronaldinho, has had a meteoric rise since his professional footballing career began at Brazilian top flight side Avai FC in 2014.

He caught the eye of Vitória Guimarães and initially joined up with their B team in February 2016, before manager Sergio Conceicao handed the 23-year-old his first-team debut just a month later after an impressive first few weeks in Portugal.

Raphinha then made the switch to Portuguese giants Sporting CP in 2018. The Brazilian shone in his one season at Sporting, scoring nine goals and delivering four assists in 41 games.

He was then snapped up by Ligue 1 side Rennes on the final day of the 2019 summer transfer window, a move which Rennes club president Olivier Letang at the time called the “biggest transfer in modern history”, of the club. He scored five goals and got three assists in the league in his first season in France, helping Rennes achieve their highest-ever position in Ligue 1, qualifying for the Champions League with a third place finish. This season, he has featured six times for Rennes, scoring one goal and getting two assists.

When the opportunity arose, Victor Orta and Leeds couldn’t resist the temptation of approaching Rennes to buy the talented winger, who predominantly plays on the right wing, however can contribute in any of the forward positions. United’s new number 18 is thought to be a quick, creative, skillful player and is sure to provide strong competition for the other five wingers that Marcelo Bielsa already had at his disposal.

If his previous club stats are anything to go by, Raphinha just might become one of the best signings Leeds United have made this summer and a real bargain at just £17m.

2. RodrigoIn second place in the poll with 42.1% of the vote is Spanish international striker Rodrigo. This may come as a surprise to some that he didn’t win the poll considering he cost Leeds a whopping £27m, breaking the club’s previous transfer record of £18m when they signed Rio Ferdinand in November 2000.

The 29-year-old has picked up good experience since starting his career in the youth ranks at Real Madrid. Portuguese giants Benfica signed Rodrigo in July 2010 on a five-year deal, paying Real in the region of €6m. The following month, the Spaniard joined Premier League side Bolton Wanderers on a season-long loan, and made his league debut for the Lancashire side in October 2010, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic. Rodrigo would only score one goal for Bolton, against the same opponent, in January 2011, with the game amazingly ending with the same result, before returning to Portugal.

Rodrigo would enjoy four full seasons at Benfica in which he made 119 appearances, scoring 45 goals and delivering 1 assists. He would then return to his home country as he joined La Liga side Valencia on loan for the 2014-15, and after an impressive 32 games, he would make the permanent switch to Valencia. Rodrigo made another 188 appearances for the Spanish club, scoring a further 55 goals and getting 36 assists.

He brings plenty of La Liga, Champions League and Europa League experience to Leeds United, and as his CV suggests, could end up being a fantastic coup for the Whites.

1. Robin KochWinning the poll with an impressive 52% of the vote in centre-back Robin Koch. This may come as a surprise to some as Koch doesn’t boast a CV quite like the other summer signings. He started his senior footballing career at German side Eintracht Tries, having had previous spells in the FC Kaiserslautern, SV Dorback youth sides. He made his debut for the first team on 22 September 2014 in a 0-0 with TuS Koblenz. After an impressive 23 appearances in which he scored two goals, he had a brief spell at his hometown club Kaiserslautern before making a move to Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2017 for €3.5 million.

He made his top-flight debut in Germany on 22 October 2017, in a 1-1 draw with Hertha Berlin, and scored his first of four goals he would score for Freiberg in a 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on 13 January 2018.

Koch made 87 appearances in total for Freiberg, including six games in the Europa League, and along with his four goals delivered one assist. Impressing in the Bundesliga, the defender received his first of three caps for the German national team in 2019.

After ending their pursuit in 22-year-old Brighton defender Ben White, who was on loan at Leeds during their title-winning season last year, the Whites turned their attention to Victor Orta’s long-term target Robin Koch and sealed the very reasonable £12m transfer soon after the arrival of record-signing Rodrigo, with the ex-Freiberg man committing to a four-year deal.

Robin Koch has made a solid start to his Leeds career, flourishing under the guidance of 64-year-old Argentine Marcelo Bielsa. As the poll suggests, fans have liked what they’ve seen from Koch so far, and at the age of just 24 he’s sure to keep improving.

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