Wilson’s start as Leeds player leaves mixed feelings but transfer truth remains

The attacker registered a career-best 10 goals and seven assists in the Premier League last season and that Leeds won the race to get him, even considering last year’s deadline day frustration, was seen as a real coup.

And it still should be. Just as a few good games do not make a great player, a few poor ones do not mark a player a bad one.

In one sense, his benching is a positive; it shows that the ceiling of the squad has risen and that there is competition for places. Albeit, it is also true that Wilson was brought in to help with that.

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It is worth noting that while Wilson has played as an attacking midfielder before, the last four seasons at Fulham saw him predominantly play as a right winger - a not-too dissimilar role but certainly not the same.

In pre-season, it was evident he was still getting used to teammates and Farke’s tactics - that final pass or shot was not quite coming off. He performed well away at Nottingham Forest in the opener.

But for the offside flag he would have taken his goal nicely after a super run, and he had two other touches inside the area. His three long balls all found their target and he won more duels than he lost.

Yet even so, there is a real sense that Leeds have yet to see Wilson really kick into his stride. Wilson has recorded a decent overall pass completion rate of 88.6% and his 69.2% success ratio of passes in the opposition half is a comparatively tidy return.

In fact, the on-paper metrics state he has enjoyed a good start. His substitute appearance against Brighton & Hove Albion was arguably his worst stint yet he still managed to pass to Lukas Nmecha for his close, rasping effort late on.

Against Brentford, when he got 45 minutes, he completed all seven of his passes into the final third - the best return out of any player who made four or more. And away at Forest four of his five attempts came off.

But that’s where the eye test comes in. Wilson might have buzzed around and even been in the mix of attacking intent but he has yet to register anything substantial.

His 17-minute appearance at Brighton saw him have eight touches and two of those came as a kick-off and a corner. The pass to Nmecha was not a difficult one to pull off either.

His overall expected assists is down at 0.07 and just one of his seven crosses have been successful, thus highlighting that the types of passes he is pulling off are not yet leading to many clear-cut openings.

Wilson’s own xG currently stands at 0.1 - which is both a mark of his teammates not providing chances and also the player himself not getting into goal-scoring positions, which is perhaps indicative of him still getting used to his new colleagues.

He is also losing more duels than he is winning, having lost all four at the Amex Stadium. But this need not be a baton to beat Wilson with.

Ultimately, he has played 135 minutes across three Premier League games, that contain two bench appearances, for a brand new team. While he was uninspiring against Brighton, he helped Leeds’ fightback in the 1-1 draw with Brentford.

The attacker only came off the bench four times last season too, and is already halfway to that total. It is fair to say he is not accustomed to coming into a game in recent times so is having to get used to that too.

Wilson is also having to get used to the intensity of Farke’s system. He went on record over the summer underlining how relentless the training schedule was, stating it reminded him of his brief time under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. But though Farke has benched him from the last two games, he will feel confident that he will kick into gear eventually.

Speaking ahead of the opening game of the season, Farke said of his new signing: “Harry's a very smart, intelligent and experienced player and for these players, it's a bit easier to adapt. Of course he has to adapt a bit because of the different role that he plays, also a bit different style of play, different intensity. We are all quite confident that he can shine.”

While Wilson has yet to light up the pitch so far, all it takes is one spark. Perhaps that will come at Stamford Bridge in Wednesday’s League Cup trip to Chelsea.

But either way, given his free transfer arrival, the truth is that Leeds only stand to gain.