Towards the very end of the summer transfer window, Leeds United were interested in signing Ao Tanaka from Fortuna Düsseldorf.
The midfielder seemed ready to make the move to Elland Road, with the Yorkshire club even emailing their German counterparts and saying they were ready to bid €3.7m for their player.
That’s when Leeds went quiet, and Bild on Friday add a bit more information on what happened after that, as one failed transfer led to another collapsing.
However, they also fear they won’t be able to sell him in the coming months, because he will be set to take part in the Asia Cup with Japan from January 12th onwards, meaning any club who buys him will immediately see him leave on international duty.
Seeing as his country are on of the favourites, there is a chance he could be unavailable until February 10th, when the final is played.
It’s then recalled that the sale to Leeds United ‘fizzled out’ after the Championship side never followed up on their written offer, and this cost Fortuna Düsseldorf to miss out on the signing of Simon Zoller, a striker at FC St. Pauli because of the ‘fruitless wait’.
There is clearly a bit of resentment there still, but it appears Leeds themselves have moved on, as there is no mention of them returning for Tanaka in the coming weeks.
