The January transfer window is going to play a vital part in Leeds United’s season this year, with what they do in the space of the coming fortnight likely to define the division they’re playing in next term.

Leeds are currently sat second in the Championship table and trail West Bromwich Albion by a single point. However, a run of one win in six Championship games has allowed third-placed Brentford to cut the gap to six points and led to the opportunity to discover signupoffers.codes that offer value for promotion, whilst that dip has coincided with Jack Clarke and Eddie Nketiah returning to their parent-clubs.

Neither were a permanent fixture under Marcelo Bielsa in the first-half of the season, but the Argentine’s threadbare squad is now without two senior players and needs bolstering in January; a month that went so badly wrong 12 months ago.

Rewind back to January 2019 and Leeds were in a similar position to the one they find themselves in now, with Daniel James on the radar in the transfer window. Of course, Swansea City pulled the plug on the Welshman’s move to Elland Road at the eleventh-hour, leaving Bielsa without an outfield addition to his squad in the winter window.

To put into perspective how similar Leeds’ opening 27 games of the Championship season have gone and how much it echoes last year, we’ve put together the graphic below...

There is a difference of just two points in last season’s tally compared to this year. 15 victories is one short of last season’s 16, but Leeds have drawn an extra game and suffered the same amount of defeats.

Bielsa’s side’s attack is slightly less prolific this time around (46 v 43), but they are narrowly better defensively.

In terms of possession averages, Leeds are having slightly more of the ball this season (only by 0.4%), telling you that their dominance of proceedings hasn’t wavered.

Moving onto Leeds’ top goalscorers, there is just a difference of four between what Kemar Roofe contributed last season and what Patrick Bamford has delivered so far in this campaign.

Interestingly, from this point last season, Roofe managed to only score one more goal, which came in the first-leg of the play-offs against Derby County, securing a 1-0 victory.

Bamford took the goalscoring burden on that little bit more and delivered eight goals in the second-half of last season, but Leeds were undoubtedly short of a player to make their domination count in the final third.

Whether James would’ve made a difference on the wing is something that we will never know, with the Welshman finishing last season with 11 goal contributions and adding nine to that since the start of 2019/20, albeit in the colours of Manchester United in the Premier League.

However, what can be said is that failing to land James on deadline-day in January 2019 left Leeds entering the final months of the season with a squad short of raw pace and an alternative to Jack Harrison and Pablo Hernandez on the wing, with extra pressure on Jack Clarke.

Currently there’s a huge burden on the shoulders of Bamford following Nketiah’s recall, which combined with Clarke’s move to Queens Park Rangers (via a Tottenham recall), has left Leeds’ attack a little bit one-dimensional, not within how they play, but the options they possess.

Che Adams is a wanted man by Bielsa, whilst Jarrod Bowen has been loosely linked with a loan-to-buy move from Hull City. Both would be outstanding options in this Leeds squad, and the addition of either would leave the supporters delighted. However, a breakthrough hasn’t been made with the window past halfway.

So, all eyes on the biggest two weeks of Leeds’ season so far, as they look to end this crippling Premier League exile.