Daniel Farke reached the end of his fuse on Thursday afternoon when, once again, the Leeds United boss was asked about Jean-Matteo Bahoya. But during his rant, he hinted at a player Leeds wanted.

Constantly asked about Bahoya’s lack of game time since the Frenchman arrived at Elland Road, Farke went on a 10-minute rant about the hype surrounding Bahoya, ordering fans to calm their expectations.

His rant included comments about Georginio Rutter, Raphinha, swimming pools, and what he purchases from the supermarket, while explaining that Leeds wanted a game changer, but they were too expensive.

Indeed, Farke actually named a player, hinting Leeds were interested and that a bid was rejected. Indeed, the name he divulged was Köln star Said El Mala, who had a hand in 18 Bundesliga goals during 2025-26.

What Daniel Farke said about Köln star Said El Mala

El Mala, 20, scored 13 goals for Köln last season in Germany’s top tier, also laying on five assists. The two-time Germany international has been linked with plenty of clubs, and now, it appears Leeds were keen.

Reports in the summer suggested Brentford had made an offer to sign El Mala, but the player himself turned it down. Indeed, Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund were among many clubs strongly linked.

It’s not the first time Daniel Farke has named a potential target

Farke prides himself on his honesty and his integrity. In his press conferences, he speaks to reporters as if they were mates down the pub. It’s an endearing feature of the German’s management that plays well.

It does the opposite of alienating himself from supporters. There are managers in the Premier League that wouldn’t discuss such topics; in fact, the majority wouldn’t. Last season, Leeds were beaten by Fulham.

A 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage, with Gabriel Gudmundsson conceding a bizarre own goal. Momentum switched towards Fulham after Marco Silva brought on Brazilian winger Kevin, a £35m signing in 2025.

After the game, Farke said Kevin was a target for Leeds: “Create chances, force a save, win a corner. I’m not surprised, I was aware of his quality, the only bad thing is that sadly, we couldn’t afford him.”

As for Bahoya, time will tell if he will be a success at Leeds. The France U21 star has been afforded two very late cameo roles so far and at Sunderland, the on-loan Frankfurt ace remained an unused sub.