It’s the question everybody seems to ask. Even after our potless, unambitious owner stumped up another £25m for an impact sub, it was the first question he had to answer on Twitter. His answer was Adam Forshaw, and people scoffed or thought he was joking. The clamour for ‘a midfielder’ baffles me, not least because people make it sound so simple when in reality it’s probably impossible for us to sign somebody who will run all day, every day, who is technically good enough to improve our team and willing to sign for a club who isn’t in Europe. Even if this mythical creature existed Bielsa might not want him, he’s got Adam Forshaw!

“Even if this mythical creature existed Bielsa might not want him, he’s got Adam Forshaw!”

Bielsa loves Forshaw. He named him as our best player when he arrived, and once he was fit Forshaw was straight into the team in place of mercurial ‘no.10’ Samu Saiz. El Loco isn’t entirely crazy and will of course appreciate that a two-year absence and a huge jump in standard means he cannot rely on Forshaw being our best player anymore, but Stuart Dallas has already filled the void that Forshaw left, which Michael Cuisance was supposed to fill. Bielsa wanted a challenger for Klich who provides the option to play with two ‘no.8’s’, rather than a ‘no.10’, and Dallas did such a great job that he walked away with our player of the year award, ahead of England’s player of the year! Why the urgency for a midfielder?

With Forshaw back to challenge Dallas, Klich and Rodrigo for two places, and with Roberts and Shackleton sniffing around too, is there even room for another midfielder? Lewis O’Brien’s name is screaming at me while I write all this, but I suspect Leeds’s interest was more of a cheeky punt, a good player to pick up for a nominal fee, who could perhaps be re-trained as a left-back or a Kalvin Phillips? I know nothing about the lad so this is wild speculation, but the fact Leeds walked away from an inexpensive option supports the theory that Bielsa doesn’t need a midfielder. The Great Man operates a famously tight 18-man squad, a system that works because it keeps everybody close enough to the team to warrant putting themselves through the unrelenting training. The squad has been 18-strong in every Bielsa season, with Shackleton as the 19th man, and last season Poveda was the wildcard 20th (as Jack Clarke was in his first). This season we have swapped Costa for James, Alioski for Firpo, Casilla for Klaesson, Poveda for Summerville, and Pablo for, wait for it…Adam Forshaw! Bielsa will see no reason why Forshaw can’t follow in the footsteps of his colleagues – Cooper, Ayling, Dallas, Klich and Bamford - who spent almost their full careers outside looking in, but now find themselves as established and excelling in the Premier League. So the transfer window is closed and the squad is complete. It isn’t perfect, but it is well balanced and Marcelo has plenty of options at his disposal. I’m sure he’s delighted with it. If everyone plays to their maximum Leeds will be a real force this season. If some players don’t deliver it could leave us looking short in certain areas, but the same goes for this weekend’s opponents, Liverpool, who have won all the trophies under the sun since Marcelo Bielsa arrived at Elland Road. That’s how football works. It’s sure to be a fantastic occasion on Sunday evening, I can’t imagine the emotions if we pull off a famous victory.

“This season we have swapped Costa for James, Alioski for Firpo, Casilla for Klaesson, Poveda for Summerville, and Pablo for, wait for it…Adam Forshaw!”

Yet again it feels like we are re-raising the ‘being back’ bar, this time it will take us back almost 21 years, to the last time we paraded a major new signing in front of a full Elland Road against a famous old rival, live on Super Sunday.

Arsenal were the visitors back in November 2000, and Olivier Dacourt’s deflected free-kick sealed a 1-0 win as Britain’s most expensive footballer (the world’s most expensive defender) watched from the stands. Leeds United are mixing it with the big boys again, signing multi-million pound players and moving forward. It feels amazing just to write about it, but we will be living it on Sunday, safe in the knowledge that our manager goes to bed every night dreaming about playing Liverpool, and always thinks we can win.

Rocco Dean - Author of Marcelo Bielsa vs The Damned United (order on Amazon)

WHERE’S OUR MIDFIELDER?