Marcelo Bielsa gambles Leeds United’s Premier League status on a quiet January as Sheffield United, Hull City, Huddersfield Town and Middlesbrough stock up for promotion push

As the rest of Yorkshire’s league clubs added senior players to their squads in the transfer window, the richest effectively sat it out.

Compare the Leeds United squad on February 1 with January 1, and you can only conclude it has taken a step backwards, albeit only a small one.

For some clubs, not signing a player in January is a show of strength because of the season they are having. Leeds are 15th in the Premier League.

After a first half of the campaign where bad luck with injuries exposed the shallowness of their squad, even standing still was risky but instead the Whites have – reluctantly – loaned out fringe youngster Cody Drameh and brought in only an under-23 striker in Mateo Joseph Fernandez.

Everton ought to be better after recruiting Leeds’s old rival Frank Lampard as manager as well as loaning Donny van de Beek, and perhaps most importantly getting Goodison Park onside after the poison towards Rafael Benitez.

Watford should be better organised defensively for replacing the hapless Claudio Ranieri with Roy Hodgson, and whilst there are no big names or fees amongst their on-field January recruits – Samir, Maduka Okoye, Edo Kayembe, Hassane Kamara, Samuel Kalu and Yaser Asprilla – there are plenty of them.

Nouveau riche Newcastle United have thrown money around as they naturally would in their filthy-rich-yet-desperate situation and whether Burnley are better off hangs on how shrewdly £12m of the Chris Wood transfer fee has been reinvested in Wout Weghorst.

Of the teams below Leeds, that leaves only Norwich City. The seven-point cushion to the relegation zone will be tested, although it ought to be enough.

Leeds fans were warned.

“We should not underestimate the challenge of securing targets who can meet Marcelo (Bielsa)’s exacting standards and have the immediate impact that is required this season,” warned chief executive Angus Kinnear in his first programme notes of the window. Van de Beek and Harry Winks, offered on loan, were overlooked. Brenden Aaronson was not, but Champions League club Red Bull Salzburg had no wish or need to sell. Is the inability to identify and sign anyone in what is now a global market who met Bielsa’s standards a failure of Victor Orta’s scouting, an indictment of the coach’s stubbornness or a principle that will be shown to be correct in the long-term? Right now, Leeds look short of cover at centre-forward, central midfield and full-back. They kept star players such as Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, but no club in the world’s richest league has to sell prize assets for financial reasons.

Signing players is not the only way to improve. Leeds must hope better luck with injuries and improvement from the youngsters on the fringes raises standards. The latter can almost certainly be banked on in the long-term, but few fans – or clubs – have the patience to look that far ahead.

Middlesbrough and Hull City were in a rush in January – the latter as much as almost anyone because of the lateness of Acun Ilicali’s takeover and subsequent lifting of their transfer embargo. Both have better squads, the only question is whether the Tigers’ recruitment dilutes team spirit amongst the tightly-bound squad previous coach Grant McCann built. Signing Allahyar Sayyadmanesh on loan from Ilicali’s club Fenerbahce and making Ryan Longman’s stay permanent were big deals.

Middlesbrough have momentum in their promotion push and a manager as well backed by chairman Steve Gibson as his predecessor Neil Warnock predicted he would be. They look formidable.

Huddersfield Town seemed content to largely sit back, Barnsley too concerned about the bottom line to splash out, Sheffield United somewhere inbetween.

Having put themselves in the Championship play-off picture with shrewd summer recruitment, the Terriers played the waiting game before pulling off two exciting signings in Tino Anjorin and Carel Eiting. Barnsley also seemed to shake themselves out of a deep sleep on deadline day and finally address their lack of midfield quality, if not experience.

The Blades had a good squad on paper but it looked in need of a bit of rebalancing and refreshing under a board aiming to recoup money. They appear to have achieved that. Doncaster Rovers fans have been scathing about their board’s lack of ambition but with eight new signings, five permanent, they have backed new manager Gary McSheffrey. Whether Adam Clayton and Kieran Agard bring enough experience to an otherwise youthful crop remains to be seen, but they are not waving the white flag.

Bradford City have thrown their weight around too, not only their signings but selling captain Niall Canavan sending a message of intent.

Their League Two rivals Harrogate Town have shuffled the pack too, including swapping Conor Hall for Leon Legge at centre-back. League One leaders Rotherham United took the Huddersfield approach, whilst Sheffield Wednesday’s restraint was not entirely by choice.

Only Leeds sat on the sidelines. “Reckless” is not the first word which springs to mind with their window but by refusing to take risks, Bielsa is gambling again.