Ao Tanaka 'open' to Leeds United exit as Premier League claim made and transfer fee mooted
Ao Tanaka is reportedly open to leaving Leeds United this summer.
An immensely popular figure at Elland Road, Tanaka has proven to be a bargain buy since arriving from Fortuna Dusseldorf for a reported £2.9m in 2024.
He was instrumental in Leeds’ Championship title-winning campaign, justifying the financial outlay with his exploits in that season alone.
It has since been a bumpy road for Tanaka, who has struggled to nail down a spot in Daniel Farke’s Premier League XI.
Ao Tanaka ‘open’ to Leeds United departure
According to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Tanaka is open to the idea of seeking pastures new at the end of the season.
It has been suggested he could move for a fee in the region of €10-12m (£7.8m-£9.6m).
There has been talk of interest from Germany in Tanaka, although it has been claimed he is leaning towards a Premier League stay.
Posting on X, Plettenberg said: “Ao Tanaka is open to leaving Leeds this summer. He is currently leaning towards a move within the Premier League. Freiburg are also interested, although they are not his priority. If LUFC are willing to let him go, a potential fee could be in the region of €10-12m.”
Ao Tanaka’s struggle for minutes at Leeds United
Tanaka was handed a start last weekend and opened the scoring in stylish fashion as the Whites knocked West Ham United out of the FA Cup.
With Anton Stach seemingly set for a spell on the sidelines, Tanaka could now have the opportunity to stake a claim for a more prominent role in the run-in. However, he will face competition from fellow fringe player Sean Longstaff.
It would undoubtedly be a shame to see Tanaka move on given the impact he made in such a short period after joining the club.
Back when he delivered a man-of-the-match performance in the season opener against Everton, few could have envisaged the Japan international struggling for minutes in the manner he has.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post in February, ex-Whites star Alan Smith delivered his view on Tanaka’s position on the periphery.
He said: “I feel like it's a difficult league, isn't it? I feel like there's not many people that come out of pure obscurity, sign for a club in the Championship and then go on to do incredibly well in the Premier League.
“But he's chipped in at vital moments, the goal against Liverpool. He's probably the one that's got something a little bit different. We've got such a working workmanlike central midfield.
“He's kind of the only one that might give us a little bit of something else, but you can't always fit those people in your team either.
“There's a right time to play him and a right time not to. It's one of those where it's easy when you watch him, we're all experts going, ‘should do this, should do that’.
“But the difficulty is being able to go and produce that when you're relatively new to a league as well.”