Daniel Farke lays out 'tricky' Leeds United situation as 25-day warning sounds after Manchester United loss

Speaking after the first pre-season friendly of his regime, a 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in Oslo, Farke was in no mood to sugar coat the situation facing him and Elland Road chiefs.

In 25 days the German will lead the Whites into the first game of the Championship season, but the club's transfer business will go into August as they discover who will remain from the squad Farke inherited and recruit new talent for a promotion drive.

Talks with current players are ongoing at Thorp Arch and though Leeds have said farewell or will soon say farewell to Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, Brenden Aaronson, Rodrigo and Rasmus Kristensen, they harbour hopes of retaining the likes of Tyler Adams, Max Wober, Jack Harrison and Willy Gnonto.

Luis Sinisterra is another who would represent a serious asset in the second tier and the Colombian winger shone at times against Manchester United.

Farke is in no mood to spill the beans on how discussions over the future are going. But they are going, in between working on possession and shape and fitness levels.

"Each and every day we have many, many conversations but it's not up to me to speak in public about this," he said.

"So it's important that we do this behind closed doors and be sure, so we work our socks off right now really, each and every day. At the moment, the days don't have enough hours if I'm honest, in order to do all the work.

"It will last a while to be in a really solid position that we have a big, clearer picture who is with us and who is not and it's also important to be professional and to work really hard on our fitness level also, to bring our ideas to the players of course in order to be prepared when things really count."

Farke, though optimistic that Leeds can keep some of their key stars, won't shy away from the difficulty of the work that lies ahead.

"If you're not convinced then you can't do the job, you always have to be optimistic, but also realistic," he said.

"So my topic is always I like to speak honestly and pretty transparent about the situation and not to paint a picture just full of sunlight and glory days. Our club will always be full of ambitions and want to play on the top level, this will always be our mid and long-term ambition and also our long term and mid-term targets. But reality is also that it's a difficult situation and we have a hell of a task ahead of us and we're working unbelievably hard. It's also quite important to be honest and open about the situation."

The manager, who led Norwich City to a pair of Championship titles, says Leeds are doing all they can behind the scenes to deliver the right squad for the task at hand. He also has faith that supporters will understand the club's position, in a post-relegation climate and as 49ers Enterprises' takeover awaits EFL approval.

"I have unbelievable confidence of how hard our people, our key people behind the scenes work," he said.

"So they also are not responsible for the situation, they have to respect also all the contracts, how they are and we're working from this point, so there's no complaining about the situation or accusing, not at all, we just accept the situation.

"And my confidence is we have so many good people in this club and so many people who work unbelievably hard for [the] club.

"Everyone knows that we are in a bit of a tricky situation as a club but I totally trust our supporters because my feeling is, because I follow this club for many years, when it really counts and the times are really difficult then we stand together as one unity and this feeling I have today only just after a few days.

"I know ‘til the end of August they are tricky times but we need our supporters, especially during this time, even more they need to carry us a little bit and our responsibility is to work unbelievably hard to fulfil our expectations and also our and their ambitions. We're trying to do this."