Three potential Daniel Farke replacements named as Leeds United boss set for crunch talks
Speculation surrounding the Leeds United manager has surfaced following promotion.
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke is reportedly set for talks with chairman Paraag Marathe over his Elland Road future this week.
Leeds host Bristol City this evening in what is the penultimate fixture of their successful 2024/25 campaign.
The Whites clinched promotion back to the Premier League with two games to spare only a week ago, however speculation regarding the manager’s future has been rife since that achievement.
Several national newspaper reports have claimed high-ranking figures within Leeds’ ownership hierarchy - run by investment group 49ers Enterprises - are doubtful of Farke’s ability in the top flight.
The German previously led Norwich City in the Premier League but suffered relegation in his first season, before being sacked at Carrow Road during his second top flight spell. He has since managed Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and joined Leeds in July 2023.
It has now been suggested by The Guardian that Farke could be replaced by the likes of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Roger Schmidt or Davide Ancelotti, if the 49ers choose to part company with the man who has guided Leeds to promotion at the second time of asking.
Ancelotti, son of Real Madrid boss Carlo, is expected to leave his post as his father’s assistant at Santiago Bernabeu this summer, while Van Bronckhorst and Schmidt are both out of work.
Leeds United linked with trio of managers amid Daniel Farke speculation
The Guardian report Leeds’ financial position could dictate a decision on Farke’s future as the German is reportedly due a year’s salary as compensation if he is to be sacked. United’s Profitability and Sustainability headroom falls by approximately £20 million for the three-year accounting period ending June 30, 2025 and the club most recently posted a £60 million loss in their recent set of accounts, eating up almost their entire three-year loss allowance of £61 million.
Van Bronckhorst spent four years with Dutch club Feyenoord between 2015 and 2019, lifting the Eredivisie league title in 2017. He subsequently won the Scottish Cup with Rangers in 2022, the same year he ended as UEFA Europa League runner-up. Most recently, the ex-Netherlands international coached Turkish club Besiktas to the Turkish Super Cup title in 2024 but lasted only five months with 10 wins from 20 matches.
Schmidt, meanwhile, is regarded as a tactically astute German coach with experience at several high-level European clubs. An Austrian Bundesliga and ÖFB Cup winner with FC Red Bull Salzburg, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in the German top flight with whom he won over 50 per cent of his 130 games in charge.
Schmidt finished fourth and third in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen during his first two seasons in charge but was relieved of his duties shortly before the end of his third campaign with the team in the bottom half.
A two-year spell in the Chinese Super League followed before successful stints with PSV Eindhoven and Benfica, with whom he won the Dutch Cup and Portuguese Primeira Liga, respectively.
Marathe is expected to be in attendance at Elland Road this evening and at Home Park on Saturday afternoon when Leeds visit Plymouth Argyle on the final day, with the Championship title still on the line.
Farke is reportedly set to discuss his future with Marathe later this week. Asked by the YEP last Friday whether he would like assurances from the board over the safety of his job, the German said that was a question for those above him in the Leeds hierarchy.