Leeds United January transfers, takeover status and contract expectation - Graham Smyth's full Q&A transcript

For a long time all the talk around the club has been centred entirely around a striker and a left-back. Those were the needs that went unfulfilled in the summer window and although Pascal Struijk has done well at left-back this season, those needs remain the most pressing for the side. It was obvious, again, in the Manchester City game that a centre-forward is badly required. Pinning any hope to Patrick Bamford’s ability to play regular football, never mind his ability to score goals, would be folly given the nightmarish time of it he’s had since a magnificent first season in the top flight with Leeds.

Leeds are always keen to point out that they won’t spend money for the sake of it, but they’re also open about their active desire to add in this window in those two positions. And no one can be under any illusions that arriving in February without addressing the needs will be acceptable. It feels urgent, so with that in mind I do expect them to add.

Maximilian Wöber, as the left-back/central defensive signing, has legs. They’re keen on him and believe they can get him for what would be a very good price, and he’s one of a small number of internationals being assessed and worked on, as Orta seeks to bolster that side of the defence with another option.

There’s lots of noise around Alfonso Pedraza but the YEP understands he’s not topping any lists in Orta’s office.

There doesn’t seem to be a huge possibilty of Craig Dean strengthening the academy ranks next month, even if the Under 21s side does look a little light in certain areas. It’s more likely at this point that Dean gets to go at another round of recruitment in the summer.

Then there’s the outs and potential outs. Mateusz Klich is the headline story there, with that offer from DC United on the table. Leeds would rather keep him but they won’t stand in his way if he decides this is his time to depart. It’s an offer that would make a huge amount of sense in Klich’s situation, at his age, so it’s a very real possibility.

Cody Drameh wants game time. Marsch likes him. But being liked might not be enough to keep him from asking out. There are others, like Alfie McCalmont, who need to go and make their way elsewhere. The Northern Ireland international has impressed everyone with his attitude this season, playing in the 21s and training with the first team, and that has not gone unnoticed in the EFL. He’ll have an option or two.

And what do Leeds do with Daniel James? A way back for him at Leeds looks almost impossible given events since his big-money move from Manchester United.

Everyone within striking distance of the bottom three is in trouble. Most Premier League teams, with only several exceptions, start the season knowing that trouble is a very real possibility. The key for Leeds will be to pick up enough points and the signings they need in January to enter February with some kind of confidence. There are questions for Jesse Marsch to answer and the Aston Villa, Brentford and Nottingham Forest games will be huge opportunities for him to do so. It’s an answer that earns me some splinters from the fence but I find it so hard to pin down whether or not this Leeds team under Marsch is going to be good enough to earn midtable comfort or if the second half of this season will too closely resemble the 2021/22 finale.

I’m an 8.5 in many shoes and can usually wear an 8 quite comfortably but a 7.5 would surely pinch, a little. Led to believe mine wouldn’t be the smallest boot in the boot room at Thorp Arch, though. Many footballers actually wear a boot that is a size smaller than their ordinary, walking-around shoes. Something to do with touch and feel for the ball. Can’t be good for their feet.

Yes, I imagine he is and the new owners are almost certainly going to be the ones already in the boardroom with their feet under the table. The 49ers have embarked on a lengthy apprenticeship that should by now have given them a real insight on Leeds United history, culture and expectation. As for the rich part - they don’t strike me as the kind to come in and go toe-to-toe with state-owned clubs, not when private equity has had to be gathered in order to get the finances in place to make a takeover happen. And as for timing and the price they will pay, what happens in the remainder of this season feels really key. The question for me, as I play the role of the spectre at the feast, is this - what happens if Leeds go down? Did 49ers Enterprises get into this to own a Championship club? It’s true that they first invested in one, but their involvement has always felt linked to Andrea Radrizzani’s Premier League ambition and everything that lay beyond the second tier. We’re in for an interesting 2023.

No I don’t see that, at all. Aside from his evident importance to the team, seen in Jesse Marsch’s selection decisions, Cooper is a huge part of life at Leeds as captain of the club. I wouldn’t for one second envisage a mid-season departure. It feels more likely that Leeds see Wöber as an ideal signing at left-back and someone who can compete with Cooper and Struijk for a start. Even though he’s only 31, Cooper isn’t going to play every game with the niggles that can crop up and if Leeds had Struijk and Wöber in the wings then one can play centre-back and one can play left-back. Perhaps there’s also a thought process that would lead to Marsch building in possession with a three at the back, and Rasmus Kristensen pushed further forward down the right. It sounds very much like Junior Firpo will stay put in January, too, giving the head coach an option at left-back should Struijk, Wöber or A.N. Other not be fit and available.

Omelette with ham, pepperoni and mushroom, or a banana pancake/omelette (two eggs, mashed banana, whisked together and fried with cinnamon and sometimes blueberries on top).

Nathan, you wag, he’s signed for Liverpool as you WELL KNOW. This one is a little painful for Leeds because they obviously felt there was a chance late in the window, even if everything Gakpo and PSV have said since has poured icy cold water on those feelings. It was always going to be am ambitious one, given his obvious pedigree and scintillating form. As it happened, both he and PSV played it perfectly and he’s got his move to one of the Premier League’s biggest and best teams. What impressed most about the move, though, is how it happened in the shadows, with talk of Manchester United still being peddled the same day that Liverpool’s intentions finally became known. That’s so rare in football right now.

Sadly I’m not sure I can see a metalhead, a punk or even an emo in the squad. The one you might have held out hope for was Klich, but he’s into his Polish rap and hip hop isn’t he? Early hopes that Rasmus Kristensen would be into death metal have, thus far, not been further fueled by any evidence.

The man himself told us, out in Spain, that he expected his agent to fly in for talks with Victor Orta ‘next month’ and he intimated that he very much wanted something to be sorted out, stating again his love for the club and all of that good stuff. It would, therefore, be a surprise if he was off in January and while Willy Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville’s emergence as genuine Premier League attackers has been a bonus for Marsch, his options aren’t so fruitful that he could afford to lose Harrison - unless of course the money was instantly reinvested. Not sure I can see it, personally. My money is on a new contract.

I’ve not had anything to suggest he’s the one Leeds are focusing on, but you can understand why his name has popped up. Just look at the season he’s having and his goalscoring record in general.