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Leeds United appear to be bracing for Sebastiaan Bornauw’s exit this summer. Bornauw has been the subject of interest from Hamburg, with the Belgian appearing to be on the brink of returning to the Bundesliga after just one season in West Yorkshire. Daniel Farke made it clear after our friendly against Manchester United that he would prefer not to lose the 27-year-old, but it seems as though Bornauw wants to return to Germany in search of more regular game time. As a result, Nico Elvedi looks to be the player the 49ers have identified to replace Bornauw. Sky Sports pundit and Bundesliga commentator Kevin Hatchard approved of the potential deal, labelling it as a “smart signing.” So whilst Farke does not want to see Bornauw leave, data suggests the Whites are on the brink of securing a major upgrade. Nico Elvedi is a superior defender to Sebastiaan Bornauw in every aspect, according to the data At this stage of the window, if Bornauw leaves, Leeds cannot afford any gambles with the defender they choose to bring in. Last season, Bornauw was an extremely solid backup option. He delivered quality performances against the likes of Liverpool and Man United, so Leeds will need someone equally as dependable if he leaves. On paper, Elvedi fits the bill. At 29, he has a host of Bundesliga, European and international experience. The Borussia Monchengladbach defender also played under Farke when he took charge of the German outfit during the 2022/23 campaign. In fact, the data suggests he’d be a massive upgrade on Bornauw. According to Sofascore, there is not a defensive metric in which Bornauw was ahead of Elvedi last season. | Statistic (per 90) | Nico Elvedi (Bundesliga 2025/26) | Sebastiaan Bornauw (Premier League 2025/26) | | Interceptions | 1.2 | 0.4 | | Tackles | 1.3 | 0.7 | | Dribbled past | 0.2 | 0.3 | | Clearances | 8.2 | 2.5 | | Blocked shots | 0.9 | 0.5 | | Ground duels won | 1.8 (67.4%) | 0.8 (42.9%) | | Aerial duels won | 2.3 (56%) | 0.9 (40.7%) | In fairness to Bornauw, his data will likely have been better if he played more regularly and managed to accrue more than 439 Premier League minutes last season. However, he would’ve had a lot of work to do to equal or surpass some of Elvedi’s numbers from last season. Data also confirms Nico Elvedi is better on the ball than Sebastiaan Bornauw So, as well as being a better pure defender, or at least on paper, the data also suggests that Elvedi is better on the ball than Bornauw. According to Squawka’s Comparison Matrix, Elvedi’s passing accuracy in the Bundesliga last season was 91.98%. On the other hand, Bornauw’s was 82.88% Elvedi was also superior when it came to playing long balls. His long pass accuracy from last season sits at 55.24%, whilst Bornauw’s is 55%. For Elvedi to be ahead of Bornauw in this statistic is particularly impressive when you consider the Swiss defender played a total of 2967 Bundesliga minutes last season, which is far more than Bornauw managed to play. As always with signings from abroad, there’s the caveat of whether they can adapt to the Premier League. Bornauw proved he certainly could. But, on paper at least, there’s no reason to believe that Elvedi would not be able to fulfil the role that Bornauw played for us so well last season. I suppose one advantage Bornauw has over Elvedi is youth. Bornauw is 27, whilst Elvedi is 29. But from Farke’s comments following the Man United game, it seems evidently clear that Bornauw does not plan on sticking around at Leeds for the long term. So whilst we may need to replace Elvedi relatively soon, we should still be able to get a few high-level seasons out of him.