In the 2025 summer transfer window Farke and the club’s new sporting director Adam Underwood made a point of signing tall players who could “add a special physicality” to the squad they were building for the robust demands of the English top flight.
Of the 10 permanent arrivals, eight – Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, James Justin, Lukas Nmecha, Noah Okafor, Lucas Perri and Anton Stach – stand more than 6ft tall.
Speaking in July 2025, Farke said: “I wouldn’t say it’s coincidence that they are all tall players but, of course, if you join the Premier League and you have one of the smallest groups, you expect that probably there is more pressure on you than there was in the Championship. You have to make sure that you’re also good in defending crosses.”
This summer, after losing centre-back Pascal Struijk to Brighton, Farke moved for two World Cup players – Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic and Switzerland’s Nico Elvedi – to bolster his defence.
Despite an error leading to Bazoumana Toure’s late consolation goal for Newcastle, Muharemovic has looked particularly impressive, playing every league minute in front of 6ft 5in England international James Trafford, who became the most expensive British goalkeeper in history for the second time when he joined for an initial £40m from City.
Throw in Harry Wilson, one of the league’s standout players last season, who joined on a free transfer from Fulham, and Leeds’ latest signings look to be particularly shrewd.
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