Leeds United are looking to cement themselves as one of the elite forces of English football once again, and will hope to replicate some more of these transfer gems along the way, as we take a look at their top 10 best signings during the Premier League era.
While the club has suffered its fair share of largely downs and occasional ups, the good times have really captured the imagination at Leeds, through the highs of David O’Leary’s 2001 Champions League semi-finalists, the staggering rebirth witnessed under Marcelo Bielsa and, most recently, the renaissance under Daniel Farke.
Indeed, it’s also easy to forget that the back end of the great Howard Wilkson reign also fell into those early days of the Premier League, with the plain-talking South Yorkshireman still the last English coach to deliver a top-flight title win in the English game.
It’s important to note that these 10 best are measured by the period of time since the Premier League formed (1992), meaning certain entrants on the list, including the 10th man on the list – current club captain Ethan Ampadu – deservedly take a place, despite being signed while Leeds were a Championship side, but subsequently going on to play for the club in the EPL.
While cult hero David Batty can consider himself unfortunate not to make the top 10, we also have no place for three Judas figures in the form of Harry Kewell, Rio Ferdinand and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, all of whom impressed but who blotted their copybook by making controversial transfers away from the club.
With no further ado, here is the top 10 Leeds United transfers since the Premier League began, starting with the club’s imperious current club captain…
10) Ethan Ampadu
Signed for a modest £7m in the wake of Leeds’ relegation at the end of the 2022/23 campaign and the bona fide first signing made by the 49ers Enterprises after taking outright control from Andrea Radrizzani.
While Ampadu was a boss at either centre-half or as a holding midfielder across two Championship seasons, he has stepped up his game at the base of the engine room since promotion and is now established as club captain and one of the finest around in his position.
Signed a contract extension in July 2026 and looks now poised to spend his best years at the club, where he could, quite rightfully, move higher up this list in the years to come…
9) Stuart Dallas
The modern-day Paul Madeley and a rare modern commodity in that he could play across any position in the side. Bought for just £1.3m from Brentford in August 2015, Dallas was initially signed as a winger.
However, after excelling in both full-back roles and transforming his game under the legendary Marcelo Bielsa, it was his eight goals in 38 games from central midfield – including an unforgettable brace as 10-man Leeds won at Man City during their first season back – that really sticks in the memory.
A three-time winner of the club’s Player of the Year award during his seven seasons of action, Dallas’ time at Leeds was cruelly ended by the most horrific of injuries: a double leg break, ironically against Man City, that was to end his career for good.
Now a club ambassador, the Cookstown Cafu remains a hugely popular figure around Elland Road.
8) James Trafford
Seems incredible to see a player only just signed make a top 10 Leeds Premier League signings list, but the Whites have been crying out for a goalkeeper of real quality for the best part of 25 years.
So when the club splashed out a club-record fee of £40m to bring Trafford in from Manchester City, few batted an eyelid and instead heralded what many believe to be the game-changing signing the club needs to reach the next level.
Time will tell how good he can and will be for Leeds, but the early signs suggest it looks like money extremely well spent…
7) Tony Yeboah
An absolute club icon and one of the hardest shots ever seen in football. Yeboah was only at Leeds for two seasons, played just 66 times for the club, but was the scorer of some absolute rockets, including – in unforgettable back-to-back games – two incredible volleys against Liverpool and Wimbledon; both of which are rightly recalled as two of the greatest Premier League goals ever.
Yeboah scored 32 times in those 66 games, and although it was only short, it was very, very sweet…
6) Lee Bowyer
One of Howard Wilkinson’s last ever signings for Leeds and what a truly remarkable gift, Bowyer was an all-action midfielder and one of the best of his generation in terms of lung-busting runs into the box.
Played with a never-say-die spirit that Leeds fans loved, Bowyer appeared in 265 games for Leeds across seven seasons, scoring 55 times, and the only real frustration was his failure to add to the solitary England cap he won.
Nonetheless, he’s remembered fondly as one of the true stars of the David O’Leary side that stunned some of Europe’s elite and reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2001.
5) Nigel Martyn
Another of Wilkinson’s farewell signings at Leeds, this man needs no introduction. Having paid Crystal Palace a fee of £2.2m for his signature in July 1996 – at the time regarded as a hefty fee for a goalkeeper – Martyn is widely regarded as the best goalkeeper in Leeds United’s history.
As the author of this piece, I was indebted as a trainee reporter to be allowed to attend the press conference to present the player as a Leeds United player, even scoring a penalty past him in my newly polished Clarks size 8s on the day!!
That didn’t put Martyn off, and he stayed at the club for six seasons, making 273 appearances in total, before being sold off to Everton.
Leeds have probably not had a keeper of his level ever since, until this summer, hence the hype and expectation on Trafford’s shoulders.
4) Mark Viduka
Takes many people’s votes as the best striker seen at Leeds since the iconic Allan Clarke and Mick Jones, and 73 goals in 166 appearances for the Whites probably backs that up.
On his day, he was unplayable and a striker who had a bit of everything: hold-up play, silky skills and could finish with either foot.
That Viduka 4 Liverpool 3 clash is written in Leeds United folklore and rightly so: Viduka was truly elite!
3) Pablo Hernandez
Where to start with the man affectionately known as ‘El Mago’ to Leeds fans…. A player who was brought to the club while still in the Championship by Garry Monk in July 2016, he was to spend the bulk of his five years at Elland Road playing in the second tier.
However, given his impact at the club, with his influence reaching meteoric levels under Marcelo Bielsa, he quite rightly takes his place in the Leeds United top three greatest signings since the Premier League began.
Given his visionary delights as a player, it’s little surprise to see the Leeds icon now transferring that to management and, at the time of writing, he currently has his hometown team of Castellon riding high in the Spanish second tier.
2) Lucas Radebe
A true icon of the club, the South African arrived at Elland Road as the second – and less heralded half – of a £250,000 double deal from Kaizer Chiefs alongside Phil Massinga.
But while Massinga performed pretty decently for Leeds, Radebe wrote himself into club folklore, becoming one of the finest centre-halves of his generation, across an iconic decade-long spell at Elland Road.
In that time, he skippered the club to the Champions League semi-finals, a third and then fourth-place finish in the Premier League, and the League Cup final, all the while carrying himself with huge dignity on and off the field.
Given the fee spent and the fact that he captained the side on 124 occasions, Radebe was appointed as a Leeds United club ambassador in September 2025.
1) Raphinha
Quite simply, the single-most gifted player seen at Leeds in a generation and, arguably, of all time. The £17m spent on him upon promotion to the Premier League in October 2020 also represents an incredible bargain given the profit made on him just two years later.
In his time at Leeds, Raphinha managed 17 goals across 67 appearances, and while not incredible numbers, his skill on the ball, assists for those around him and all-round abilities made him an absolute joy to watch.
The fact that he single-handedly kept Leeds in the Premier League in the wake of a nervy relegation fight in the 2021/2022 campaign also lives long in the memory, and while he was to leave for Barcelona in a £57m deal a few weeks later, Whites supporters still rub their eyes in disbelief that they got to enjoy the player for two glorious seasons.
Given the numbers he’s now putting up for the Blaugrana, where he is now club captain, Rapha is quite rightly now regarded as one of the world’s truly elite stars – and very much deserving of the top spot on this list.