Good Morning. It's Wednesday 6th August and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road The Elland Road balancing act - players must go The Premier League kicks off in nine days time, and Leeds fans are starting to get a little concerned that not a single penny has been recouped from player sales this summer. Max Wober’s loan move, with two years still on his contract, does little to balance the books or alleviate the financial pressure. The Whites have shown ambition by bringing in seven new additions and spending a substantial £80 million, but the financial reality remains - a mass clear-out is needed. The current squad contains a significant number of players who are either surplus to requirements or need to stay in the spotlight, with the World Cup around the corner. This group includes established names and promising youngsters like Jack Harrison, Illan Meslier, Ilea Gruev, Patrick Bamford, Karl Darlow, Mateo Joseph, Joe Gelhardt, Isaac Schmidt, Darko Gyabi, and Sam Greenwood. The urgency of this situation is exemplified by Joe Gelhardt's predicament. Despite pushing for a move to Hull City, Leeds won't be able to generate a fee – not even a deferred one – due to the Tigers' ongoing transfer embargo. While Joffy's personal wishes cannot be dismissed, Leeds United is a business operating in a cut-throat environment where only the strong survive. The club must prioritise its financial stability. please log in to view this image Leeds Hold Key Advantage in Pursuit of Leicester Star El Khannouss Leeds United are intensifying their pursuit of Leicester City's highly-rated midfielder, Bilal El Khannouss, with recent talks confirming their long-standing interest. The Whites find themselves in a strong negotiating position, potentially able to leverage Leicester’s precarious financial situation to their advantage. Following their relegation, the Foxes are under pressure to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules and may face sanctions for previous breaches. According to Sky Sports, this predicament could force them to sell their most valuable players to balance the books. While it is not yet clear if Leeds have activated his reported £24.5 million exit clause, pressure is mounting for all parties with the Premier League opener less than a fortnight away. The potential deal for the midfielder is part of a broader recruitment drive at Elland Road. The main focus remains on boosting the forward line, while signing a versatile wing-back is also considered paramount for the upcoming campaign. Interestingly, the transfer traffic between the two clubs may not be a one-way street. Leicester could look to sell goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to further improve their PSR standing, with Illan Meslier still being tipped as a potential replacement. please log in to view this image Promising midfielder joins Donny on loan Leeds United midfielder Charlie Crew has completed his second successive loan move to South Yorkshire outfit Doncaster Rovers. The talented youngster will spend the 2025/26 campaign in League One with the Red and White Army continuing his development under familiar surroundings. With a Premier League campaign on the horizon, opportunities at Elland Road can be limited, making beneficial loan spells vital for player growth. At just 19 years old, Charlie Crew is already considered a bright prospect. Remarkably, he made his senior international debut for Wales before even featuring competitively for the Leeds first team, a testament to the potential United recognized when he joined Thorp Arch from Cardiff City's youth setup. please log in to view this image
Think we’ll end up keeping Ilea Gruev, Karl Darlow, Jack Harrison, and selling/loaning Illan Meslier, Patrick Bamford, Mateo Joseph, Joe Gelhardt, Isaac Schmidt (as long as we get another winger), Darko Gyabi and Sam Greenwood. If we want BEK, he wants to come and Leicester want to sell what’s the hold up? Just go get it done or are we actually not interested.
Morning all. Get the feeling fans will be still waiting with baited breath pl transfer deadline day for positive activity
I hate to state the obvious but FARKE will have known who he wanted to keep if promoted and who he would keep if not promoted. He would have spoken to the CEO and Underwood and said “here you go lads start sorting out new clubs for this lot, it’s March so you will have a good 4 months to sort it thanks” …… 5 months later they are still here. This club moves slower than anything, even when they know what deal will be accepted like for BEK from Leicester, wtf are they hanging around for just do it or walk away
It seems Spurs are favourites for BEK with Palace looking at him as a replacement if Eze goes to Arsenal.
Morning all We are probably messing around trying to get him cheaper than the release fee clause, if Palace and Spurs are in for him as well we need to move on swiftly. If we had offered the release fee two weeks ago when first interested and he was showing an interest to join then we would have got it done, no use constantly waiting for players who are waiting for that better offer to arrive
Good morning all. The BEK situation might not be due to any fault of the club, the player may well be waiting to see what options he has available to him before deciding who to sign for. I think we are sometimes quick to blame the recruitment team without knowing the full details of the discussions.
I get that mate, but to put it another way Leicester are in the shyt and need cash.mleeds offer the full asking price and to pay all expenses to get it done. Forget the player because those other clubs are waiting for sales of their players to give them the cash to buy, what happens if Arsenal don’t get Eze? Leicester are holding a player they are then forced to sell late in the window at a knock down price… what a crazy way to carry out business, football is fooked up
It's worth remembering Doc we are owned by an investment bank. I suspect the delay is down to the fact there are likely several layers to go through before we actually part with cash. Setup different at Newcastle for example where they can probably tie up deals in days. Our lot are answerable to so many investors they likely can't operate that way. Im only guessing here as I know as much about high finance as a dog in the street
Leeds have already held talks with LCFC and his agent This whole thing was leaked by a Belgium journo after El Khannouss's agent spoke to Leeds, but that was about 10 days ago. There's always going to be more to it, than simply activating his release clause, but it does seem Leeds have been hesitant this window. Saying that, I think we have spent conservatively!
I think we’ve done well this window but a little bit of worry is setting in that all our targets up front will go elsewhere. If it takes us to deadline day and we have RB cover, BEK, Solomon & Muniz I’d be pretty happy but I do worry that if we bide our time too much that we’re left with bottom of the barrel. Hope I’m wrong though. Just the thought of our winger/10/9 options going into the season are James, Aaronson, Harrison, Gnoto, Ramazani, Piroe & Nmecha doesn’t bode well. I only really think James is a starter in the PL out of those.
Leicester might have accepted our bid for all I know but the player can still say no to the move, he’s under contract there. Not much the club can do if he’s weighing up his options.
Agents only leak things when the player or the agent is looking to use you and are hoping for a better offer, Paixao all over again. The minute they say they want to see what other offers there are we should be saying okay, we need an answer in 7 days, if not we are moving on During those 7 days we are hopefully approaching plan B C D and E
My concern with the lack of activity when it comes to the forward line, we are at home to Everton the first game, followed by some real stinkers. We need to get those first three points on the board against a team we are hoping to drag into a relegation battle.
Looks like Muniz is going to Atalanta for about £40m, we offered £32m weeks ago and they said £50m but we never went back to split the difference and looks like the Italian club have. There is no good news for Leeds anywhere in the sports media right now and that could be good news as rumours have died, or it could be really bad news because we cannot compete in the market or targets turning us down. The only talk revolves around Mitrovic who I think will will go to whoever pays him the most, Kalimuendo who nobody has a clue about and BEK. BEK stalled because either it’s the player waiting for other clubs in which case walk away or Leicester stalling, who knows but why drag on for weeks when there are other targets surely
It's back to that same old nugget. That player has just gone through a season long relegation battle and ultimately relegated. Does he fancy same again this season or hoping for something more positive for his career
BALANCING ACT Spot on Matt, every transfer window is a balancing act .. yes, Leeds want to move players on who aren't going to feature, but every other club is trying to do exactly the same thing ... it's not a simple case of putting players on the transfer block and then expecting offers to flow in Clubs will be looking at the likes of Bamford, Joseph, Gelhardt etc. and be trying to make space/lose wages by selling/loaning their dead wood out first before committing I am certain the recruitment team will have a number of negotiations ongoing, but as always there will be boxes that need to be ticked before progress is made ... once clubs are able to commit to making bids for our players, then there's the whole issue of fees/wages, playing time, pulling power etc. Leeds have done really well so far, and there will be more activity before the window shuts ... the club will have targets lined up as well, it will mostly come down to the selling clubs having their own replacements in place before allowing our targets to leave BEK Whenever a potential talent becomes available via a release clause, it becomes a bit of a nightmare for buying clubs ... there will always be more than one club interested, because the player is usually available at below market value and the selling club has no negotiating power, so no bidding war The issue Leeds face with BEK is that his agent will be telling him to wait and see which clubs show interest, and then negotiate the best contract he can get ... if Spurs are genuinely bidding for him, it's game over as they will be able to pay him premium wages with a big signing bonus, and also have Chumps Lge football as a sweetener Even Palace sill be able to pay much higher wages than Leeds thanks to their many more years of Prem cash, and they also have a European campaign to look forward to ... Leeds may have to walk away from this one if the player starts playing the bidding game One thing is certain, Leeds won't be in a position to offer Leicester a fee below the release clause to take advantage of their financial peril ... and Leicester won't be in a position to rush the player out of the door either CREW Really pleased to see the lad going to Donny on loan ... he did well for them last season, and helped in their promotion push, so he's had the experience of playing under pressure to win ... as Matt says, the lad has already been capped by Wales, has captained his country at age group level, and is tipped as a future Wales skipper ... highly rated at Leeds, a full season in Lge One will do him good ... Rhys Chadwick and Sam Chambers may well be the next two Academy grads to go out on loan, both top talents Gyabi, Gelhardt, Greenwood, Bamford, Harrison and Meslier may all end up having to go out on loan as well if clubs can't raise the cash to buy them ... Joseph may well still attract a fee if he can't make peace with Farke and the fans With regards to Leeds finances, although run as an "investment fund", the investors have no say in who Leeds buy or how much is paid ... they put their money in and are, in effect, silent partners ... 49ers decide on transfer pot depending on financial situation, and then get on with it ... investors will be briefed on what the club is doing with their money and who they're buying/selling, but investors have no decision-making power or sign-off Investors like the golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas have admitted that they rarely attend investor zoom meetings because of commitments, and they simply let 49ers get on with what they need to do ... investors are given full transparency, but don't get involved in the running of the club ... pretty much like you buying shares in Tesco but not actually having a say in how the business is run Farke has done a superb job since joining Leeds, he's created a squad that's ambitious and together, and if the season started today I wouldn't be afraid ... a lot of the teams in the Prem are in fact just plain ordinary, and I see no reason why Leeds won't finish higher than 17th Seriously, have a look at these: Wolves Everton West Ham Brentford Fulham None of these are frightening teams we need to fear, and I haven't even included Burnley and Sunderland ... also, Forest aren't going to have another stellar season and Scum need a few more top quality signings to simply get into the top ten ... Spurs should improve because they have a good manager now Keep the faith, we need to win 12 games, very doable
Liverpool have agreed a fee with Al Hillal for Darwin Nunez and are just waiting on Nunez to agree. When that happens Mitrovic becomes available as another dominoe falls
Great post Billy, not sure I’m as confident about the seasons outcome as you. But agree with most of what you say.
