Leeds urged to sign Arne Slot’s record transfer whose now outscoring Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe

One of Arne Slot’s record signings is a striker with more league goals than Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe – but it’s not Alexander Isak.

Feyenoord star Ayase Ueda is mixing it with the world’s best forwards after scoring an astonishing 19 goals in 21 games in all competitions.

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The Japanese international has found the net 18 times in just 15 Eredivisie matches this season, without taking a single penalty.

Ueda was on course for a 37-minute hat-trick in Feyenoord’s 6-1 demolition of PEC Zwolle when his side were awarded a spot-kick.

The 27-year-old let Quinten Timber, brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien, score the penalty before bagging another two himself.

His four-goal haul has meant Ueda now has more league goals than Kane, Mbappe, and Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland.

Under Robin van Persie, Feyenoord’s No.9 has more than doubled the nine-goal tally that he managed in 31 games last season.

Deja vu for Arne Slot

In each of the two summer windows after winning a league title, Slot has broken a club’s transfer record to bring in a new striker.

Isak has just one goal across 641 minutes in the Premier League and Champions League since his £125million move from Newcastle.

The Swede has been outshone by fellow striker Hugo Ekitike, with talkSPORT’s Danny Murphy saying he looks ‘weak and well off it’.

Two years ago, it was Ueda struggling under Slot as backup behind Santiago Gimenez following Feyenoord’s Eredivisie triumph in 2023.

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Ueda has more league goals than Kane, Mbappe and Haaland

Ueda joined Feyenoord in a deal worth up to €10.5m (£9.1m) off the back of scoring 23 goals during his single year at Cercle Brugge.

Yet he started just five Eredivisie games in the 2023/24 campaign, all but one of which came in the final four matches of that season.

Over a year later, Ueda needed just five league appearances to equal the entirety of his goal return under Slot across 1,204 minutes.

“If you look at Ueda, he has been a bit of a slow burner for Feyenoord, it’s fair to say,” European football expert Andy Brassell told talkSPORT.

“It’s taken a while for it to happen, and it’s taken a while for him to be a consistent choice in the team.

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“Now, I think the fact that he’s played as many minutes as he’s played in almost any other season already, because he’s started every game, which has been a really big thing.

“But it feels to me as if Ueda’s learnt to play in this Feyenoord team. He’s got some great creative talents around him, by the way.

“You look at Anis Hadj Moussa, Quentin Timber, you’ve got Goncalo Borges, the winger, to help create for him as well.

“I think that’s an important thing, when you’re looking at wide service for Ueda, that’s really helped this season, the arrival of Borges has been a big thing.

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“What’s remarkable about him is that he scores lots of different types of goals. He has got that presence in the box.

“If you look at his height, you wouldn’t say this is a guy who’s going to get a third of his goals in the air. But he is a really, really good dominator of those central spaces; he’s a really good header of the ball, as well as being able to get behind and run behind.

“So he’s almost like two strikers in one, really. I think the way that Feyenoord play and the way that they create chances has enabled him to become that kind of player.

“The way that he’s come out of the blocks, and of course it’s unavoidable to say the way that he’s been coached by Robin Van Persie, and that clearly helps.”

Feyenoord to cash in?

De Kuip will find European clubs knocking for their star striker for a second successive winter window following Ueda’s form.

Earlier this year, Feyenoord allowed Santiago Gimenez to join AC Milan, with clubs also expected to take a punt on his old teammate.

“There’s always a bit of a question mark attached to the Eurodivisie strikers because you just wonder, are you getting Van Nistelrooy or are you getting Afonso Alves, basically?” Brassell added.

“It’s quite hard to judge whether that goal scoring will transfer to one of the elite European leagues.

“I could see Ueda doing well in Spain, but I’m just not really convinced there’s the money out there for him, likewise with the Bundesliga.

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‘Got Leeds written all over him’

“I wonder if a bottom-half Premier League team has a dart for him next summer or maybe even as early as January, depending on where they’re at.

“He’s kind of got Leeds written all over him. There’s a lot to like about them, but where are the guys putting it in the back of the net?

“There are big question marks over the sustainability over the period of a season for both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.

“So I wonder if you throw in Ueda in the mix and make use of that hot-hand syndrome. This guy’s in great nick at the moment.

“Why don’t we get him in now and just let him continue that great season, but at our place?

“If you’re Feyenoord and a Premier League club come in with a proper offer, I think it’s quite hard to say no.

“However ambitious Van Persie is, I think a big offer tempts you.”

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Premier League transfer in January

Ueda’s former boss, Slot, recently admitted that part of Isak’s struggles is the lack of a Jacob Murphy profile in his Liverpool squad.

Fortunately, that wouldn’t be an issue for Ueda, who ‘scores all types of goals’ according to Brassell.

He continued: “If you look at the Leeds full-backs as well, if I’m Ueda, I’d go in and make friends with Gabriel Gudmundsson on the first day.

“There are so many opportunities for him – Leeds is just one example.

“I’m sure when it comes to January, there will be a couple of bottom-half Premier League clubs that have a dart for him.

“I’d be really surprised if that wasn’t the case.”