Leeds United: Pundit backs divisive Daniel Farke stance on January transfer window inactivity | OneFootball

Pundit Carlton Palmer spoke exclusively to Football League World about a quiet mid-season transfer window at Leeds United

Pundit and former England international Carlton Palmer has weighed in on Leeds United's January transfer strategy, and does not believe the Whites' failure to sign any new players is necessarily a bad thing.

While Sheffield United made seven new signings, including the likes of Tom Cannon and Ben Brereton Diaz, and both Sunderland and Burnley pulled off ambitious deals for Enzo Le Fee and Marcus Edwards respectively, Leeds undertook a quiet mid-season transfer window which saw them stop short of welcoming any fresh faces to Elland Road.

The league leaders are in a hotly-contested automatic promotion race with those three sides, all of whom have come into February considerably stronger, and Leeds' failure to make a single signing has left some supporters underwhelmed.

Of course, Leeds' imperious position in the league table and strength in depth meant there was less of a need for recruits, but Daniel Farke still wanted a striker and was ultimately unable to bring a suitable candidate in through the door.

Southampton duo Cameron Archer and Adam Armstrong, the latter of whom has since joined Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion, were both linked late on, while Leeds also rejected a reported £10 million deadline day bid for Mateo Joseph from Real Betis.

Carlton Palmer's Leeds United transfer verdict as Whites have quiet January

Even though Leeds failed to make a signing when they clearly intended to do at least some business, Palmer does not believe the freshly-concluded window can be classified as a failure for the side.

The ex-Whites midfield man lauded Leeds for not simply making player purchases for the sake of it, and believes their squad is still more than strong enough to achieve promotion come May.

"Leeds United and Daniel Farke failed to get a striker in the January transfer market," Palmer exclusively told FLW.

"He would have liked to have done some business. I think he's got one eye on the Premier League, they've got to get there but one good thing is that they also didn't lose players.

"Leeds rejected a £10 million bid for Mateo Joseph from Real Betis. Leeds sit top of the table, two points clear of Sheffield United and five points above Burnley with 16 games to play. So if you take the five points for Burnley, that's two games so they're now down to 14 games.

"I think Farke and the Leeds hierarchy would have said 'Right, listen, we're on 63 points now, last year 96 or 97 got promoted'.

They need 30 points out of 48 available to get automatic promotion, I think he feels he has players coming back from injury and the group is strong enough to see this through, and they're looking that way.

"Burnley have made signings and Sheffield United have recruited Chris Wilder much-needed strength in depth because his bench was full of kids. They've made really good signings.

"At the end of the day, I agree with Farke. If you can't bring in the players to improve the squad, while keeping one eye on the Premier League, don't just bring them in for the sake of it. January is notoriously not a great window to get good players, you can pay over the odds.

"I think Leeds are in a far better position than they were last year, Farke came in late with a lot of work to do and didn't know who was staying or going. People are saying he did this in the last January transfer window and they lived to regret it, but we'll have to wait and see.

"They were interested in Cameron Archer and wanted to bring a striker in, but he's got a very good squad.

"I think he's happy with his squad, he would've liked to add to it but like I said, if the right player doesn't fit the group then leave the group as it is because the group together are playing very, very well."

Leeds United's striker options are good enough to see them through

A new striker certainly would not have been a detriment for Leeds, particularly one of considerable Championship goalscoring pedigree akin to both Archer and Armstrong. However, the existing options at Farke's disposal are more than capable.

Joel Piroe has been leading the line for much of this campaign, with the ex-Swansea City star notching his 11th and 12 goals of the season in Leeds' 7-0 rout of Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon.

Coupled with five assists and from a total of 20 starts - which means he's averaging 0.62 goals per 90 minutes - the Dutchman has enjoyed a strong season at Elland Road, even if supporters still remain somewhat divided on him.

He is keeping the aforementioned Joseph out of the side too, which is no mean feet. Admittedly, the 21-year-old has struggled infront of goal with just three league strikes, but he has not played all that much in recent months and remains a richly-promising talent who, it must be said, would surely walk into the vast majority of second-tier sides.

At this stage, it could be easy to forget all about Patrick Bamford and supporters are within reason to have more modest expectations of the former England international, who has endured something of a fall from grace over the last few seasons and has been plagued by injury setbacks.

He's yet to get off the mark this term, having also failed to make a league start, but he did score eight goals in the Championship last season and is still an option of sorts, albeit as third-choice in Farke's pecking order.