Three teams Leeds United can target to buck Premier League trend with £100m blow and manager change factors

Leeds United look set for one of their most exciting summers in recent memory but reality could quickly bite once the challenge of Premier League survival begins. Daniel Farke’s side racked up 100 points on their way to the Championship title last season but no one expects their top-flight return to be seamless.

Chairman Paraag Marathe admitted last month the goal is survival, adding that anything above an 18th-placed finish ‘would be gravy’, but Leeds will have to buck the recent trend of newly-promoted sides going straight back down if they are to become an established Premier League team. And if they are to stay up, they’ll need to finish above at least one current top-flight outfit.

Neither Manchester United nor Tottenham Hotspur - who finished 15th and 17th respectively last season - are expected to endure similarly difficult campaigns while regular relegation rivals Everton look set to invest and improve. But there are a few early contenders Leeds might look to target, each with their own specific circumstances, and the YEP has taken a look at them below.

Wolves

Barring Tottenham Hotspur - who as already mentioned are likely to improve significantly - Wolves were the team who finished closest to 18th-placed Leicester City last season and so it’s inevitable they will be picked out as a potential early strugglers. Their 42-point haul would have been good enough for safety in most previous campaigns but two wins in their first 16 games spelled serious danger at the time.

Manager Vitor Pereira, who took over from Gary O’Neil in December, oversaw enough of an improvement to pull away from trouble but he’s already lost arguably his two best players, with Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri joining Manchester United and Manchester City respectively. Wolves received close to £100million for the pair but it will need to be re-invested smartly.

An issue on that front is the confirmed departure of highly-regarded sporting director Matt Hobbs, whose exit came as part of a wider reshuffle at Molineux. This summer will be one of major change at Wolves and that could feasibly pave the way to another difficult domestic campaign.

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West Ham United

Another established Premier League club set for major change this summer is West Ham, who finished 14th last season under a managerial combination of Julen Lopetegui and Graham Potter. The latter took charge in January and failed to hit the ground running, with five wins in 18 games doing little to ease fan frustration.

West Ham need a squad rebuild but funds appear limited, with the Hammers spending £140million last summer before coughing up a further £33m due to an obligation in loan signing Jean-Clair Todibo’s deal. Reports have suggested they will first need to sell, but losing the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen or Lucas Paqueta would obviously make them significantly weaker.

And should West Ham fall into a relegation dogfight, they will not be able to call on experienced options like Vladimir Coufal or Lukasz Fabianski, who have been released. With fan sentiment on Potter mixed, funds lacking and top players potentially leaving, it could prove a perfect storm for someone like Leeds to target.

Brentford

A 10th-placed finish with the outside chance of qualifying for Europe last season doesn’t exactly scream relegation contender, but so much of Brentford’s improvement in recent years has been down to two people who could well leave this summer. Indeed Thomas Frank, who guided them to Championship promotion in 2021 and has overseen steady improvement since, appears to be closing in on succeeding Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur.

He reportedly wants to take 20-goal winger Bryan Mbeumo with him too, while Manchester United - who have seen a £55m bid rejected already - are also keen on the Cameroon international who is expected to move on this summer. Brentford still have the likes of Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade to call on, but the loss of Frank and Mbeumo could be a huge blow.

Of course the obvious caveat for this is Brentford are an incredibly well-run outfit who have probably had replacements lined up on Frank and Mbuemo for several months. But even the best run clubs can get decisions wrong sometimes, and it only takes a couple of questionable choices in key areas to really cause problems going into a new season.

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