Leeds United contract priority revealed after missed £11m transfer opportunity and release fee concern

Koch’s Leeds deal expires next summer, therefore will walk at the end of his Whites contract, with United only recouping a loan fee and wage recovery for 2023/24 in his agreement with the Bundesliga club.

Fellow right-sided central defender Diego Llorente is on the verge of completing a loan move, with an option to buy, to Italian side AS Roma where he spent the second half of last season on a temporary switch.

There is an unrealistic prospect of Llorente returning to Thorp Arch this summer and the 29-year-old has been granted additional time away from pre-season training in order to arrange his move to the Serie A club, which is expected to be announced in the coming days.

Consequently, in one fell swoop Leeds will have parted company with two of their right centre-backs in the space of a week, leaving one natural right-sided centre-half in the first-team squad: Charlie Cresswell.

Amid reports of a release clause and supposed interest from the likes of Rangers and Middlesbrough, Leeds’ most pressing squad-building issue in the immediate term could be argued as securing Cresswell to a new Whites contract.

The England Under-21 defender is currently away with the Young Lions in Georgia where the team have qualified for the European Championships final. He will return to Thorp Arch following the conclusion of that tournament, but his club future remains uncertain.

Cresswell’s contract at Elland Road runs until June 2025, while his loan spell with Millwall last season will have alerted potential suitors to his ability at the top end of the Championship. Additionally, the 20-year-old signed his existing Leeds deal two summers ago. In the interim period, he has developed as a player and due to the route to first-team football he may now benefit from at Elland Road, there is no doubt he has grown in importance.

Having lost out on a potential £11 million for Koch, a fair estimate of the 26-year-old’s market value and the fee Leeds parted with to sign the defender from Germany three seasons ago, on top of the £5 million-or-so they’re likely to recoup from Llorente’s eventual sale, negotiated down from an initial £15 million option to buy agreed in his initial loan switch, the club cannot afford to lose a third right-sided central defender in the same summer.

There appears, on paper at least, a fairly convincing argument for Cresswell to remain at Elland Road – namely he could become first-choice alongside Liam Cooper or Max Wober at the heart of Daniel Farke’s back four.

His stock with supporters is at an all-time high given last season’s exploits and appearances on the international stage, therefore a renewed deal seems the straightforward move.

If reports of a favourable release clause are proven to be true, though, it will come down to the player himself to decide whether he puts his faith in the project at Elland Road or like Koch and Llorente, opts for a project further afield.