'Always ongoing' - Leeds United chief on transfer talk around star men and club transfer strength

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Daniel Farke has addressed transfer talk surrounding star Whites men.

Daniel Farke says the strength of Leeds United's squad means they can be patient in the transfer window as they target their two positions in need of bolstering.

The Whites want to bring in another central midfielder and a full-back option to give Farke more to play with in those areas. Earlier this week they had a bid for Dejan Ljubičić knocked back by FC Koln and Farke is content to wait for the right moment and the right addition.

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Contrasting this summer's situation with the 2023 window in which he arrived, he believes Leeds are in a superior scenario, even if stars like Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto are expected to continue to draw transfer interest from top flight clubs and exits have not been ruled out by the club.

"We are in a better position because we had a much more turbulent phase during this period, many more players with uncertainty or no clarity on whether they would go, all the loan contracts, we also needed to bring a few more signings in," he said.

"The big advantage right now is we know already my ideas, my principles and how we work and also the staff does. In these terms a much better situation. Of course we have certain players who attract the interests of some top clubs and we have to live with it because we didn't promote and we have to live with it.

“There will always be speculations and talk about this, it will always be ongoing but it's not that much like last season. We also have work to do, I mentioned the positions we'll probably have to have a look, the number 8 position, the full-back option but we can do this because we have a strong group right now, without having to rush things.

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“We can be quite careful in who we pick and who is available. If we perhaps get a new signing in these positions it wouldn't cause any damage. It's important it's just the right choice."

When it comes to the possible moves that clubs at a higher level could make to prise away his star players, Farke is philosophical. He says Leeds are in a better place for having such talent in the ranks than they would be if no one wanted to cherry pick from Leeds.

But he insists he is not on the edge of his seat awaiting updates from club chiefs.

"No, because I don't want to be involved too much in any negotiations or any offers," he said. "Our stance is clear, we want to keep our best players and have them for us. I would be worried if no club was interested in our players and then we would have a problem because we didn't attract any offers. It's also a good sign.

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“Yes sometimes it perhaps makes life a bit more difficult. We spoke about how we still have to pay for some sins of the past and stick to financial fair play rules and there's always a balanced decision you have to take. I know that this is ongoing, I'm not naive but I don't want to be caught in the everyday talks with potential clubs or agents.

"I want to judge what they're doing with us and especially the players when there's lots of talk and speculation, if you look at their performances here in Germany you would say top class and the behaviour on the training pitch is the same. At the moment I don't have any signs that anyone will leave or wants to leave but in this business many things can change sometimes in 24 hours and you never know."

Summerville sat out the 2-0 friendly win over Schalke 04 on Saturday with a slight hamstring issue that will be scanned when Leeds return to England. He has already been the subject of interest from Brighton and West Ham United, without either club testing Leeds' resolve on their valuation of the winger.

The Whites believe they are in a position to dictate the terms of any exits, having sold Archie Gray to Tottenham Hotspur for £40m and say they will act to replace if there are departures.

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