---
title: "Leeds: Joshua Hobbs makes Noa Lang claim"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/leeds-joshua-hobbs-makes-noa-lang-claim/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Leeds United News"
published: "2022-04-18T11:30:24Z"
modified: "2022-04-18T11:30:24Z"
---

# Leeds: Joshua Hobbs makes Noa Lang claim

**Leeds United could revive their interest in Club Brugge’s Noa Lang, [Leeds Live’s](https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/victor-orta-could-tempted-return-23707102) Joshua Hobbs writes.**

### The lowdown

Victor Orta, Leeds’ director of football, [reportedly](https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/victor-orta-could-tempted-return-23707102) carried out ‘a lot of analysis’ on Lang, only for former manager Marcelo Bielsa to turn down the suggested move.

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The Argentine [apparently](https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/victor-orta-could-tempted-return-23707102) had concerns about Lang’s contribution off the ball.

Lang, who’s [predominantly a left winger but can also play centre forward](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/noa-lang/leistungsdaten/spieler/339332), has made [42 appearances this season](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/noa-lang/leistungsdaten/spieler/339332).

He ranks joint-fourth in [Club Brugge’s scoring charts](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-brugge/leistungsdaten/verein/2282) with nine, and sits [fourth in the Jupiler Pro League assist table](https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/22/Tournaments/18/Seasons/8627/Stages/19808/PlayerStatistics/Belgium-Jupiler-Pro-League-2021-2022) with 11.

The Dutchman still has more than three years remaining on his contract and is valued at £19.8million by [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/noa-lang/profil/spieler/339332).

### The latest

Hobbs notes that Jesse Marsch, Bielsa’s successor, has moved away from Bielsa’s man-to-man defensive system and prefers to defend as a unit, and that could make Lang’s supposed shortcomings less of an issue.

He also believes that the 22-year-old, ‘excellent in compacted spaces’, would be well suited in Marsch’s ‘narrow system’.

\[freshpress-poll id=”393786″\]

The move is now ‘more likely’, particularly with Raphinha potentially set to leave Elland Road this summer.

Signing Lang could be part of Leeds’ plan to replace the Brazilian.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”383507″\]

### The verdict

If Leeds fans are concerned that Lang has only been delivering in a relatively weak league – the Belgian top-flight is the [13th-best in Europe](https://www.uefa.com/nationalassociations/uefarankings/country/#/yr/2022) – then they need only look to his displays in the Champions League.

For example, Lang won the [Player of the Match award](https://twitter.com/ClubBrugge/status/1438253743586295824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1438253743586295824%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foottheball.com%2Fplayers-in-focus%2Fnoa-lang-wonder-kid-brugge-ajax-man-of-the-match-champions-league-psg) when Club Brugge drew 1-1 with French giants Paris Saint-Germain in September and looked, journalist Zach Lowy noted, ‘[like prime Neymar](https://twitter.com/ZachLowy/status/1438236552149278730)‘.

But what about those defensive concerns?

Well it’s true that Lang doesn’t press a huge amount – only [12.81 times per 90 minutes](https://fbref.com/en/players/8e034340/Noa-Lang) (placing in him just the 16th percentile) – but his numbers for tackles (1.54), interceptions (1.02) and blocks (1.2) are all closer to the average. There’s certainly enough there for Marsch to work with.

**In other news, [this Leeds transfer target struggled at the weekend](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/leeds-united-news/nottingham-forest-transfer-news-brennan-johnson-luton-town/).**