Leeds United summer transfer window Q&A with James Trafford, Shea Charles, Julian Brandt and exits
The latest on a host of key Leeds United transfer window questions asked by you fans.
Are we still looking for a no. 10, or is Harry Wilson considered enough to tick that box?
The status of Leeds United's interest in Julian Brandt is 'ongoing.' Jurgen Brandt, father of Julian, was at Thorp Arch this week for discussions with Leeds. So they're in the conversation. Brandt Snr was also pictured at Real Betis earlier this summer, though the La Liga side didn't pursue a deal.
They're still keen, there's still a willingness at Elland Road to make a deal happen, Brandt himself needs to arrive at a place where he decides this is the best offer for him. Leeds are well aware they are not the only club in for him but they have not given up hope on that front. The noises from Italy suggest he's leaning towards the Premier League, so Leeds will be in the conversation. They will be one of a number of Premier League clubs shouting their case. It's a good case.
The German is a pretty special 'market opportunity' as a free agent and I cannot see Leeds - who I still expect to play in a 3-5-2 from the start of the season - committing a chunk of their transfer kitty to a number 10 otherwise. I can see it being Wilson, or Wilson and Brandt. Not so sure I can see it being Wilson and A.N. Other.
Do you think the fact that you (and Phil and others before you) don't support Leeds United makes you a better, more objective, journalist? And given how much time you spend around the clubs and supporters, does some of that fandom seep in?
It definitely helps you to be more objective and to see the bigger picture at times. It's far harder for me to see the bigger picture at the club I support, than it is when talking or writing about Leeds. Taking the emotion out of it is really important if your coverage is going to be fair and accurate.
That said, fandom does seep in. You find yourself wanting Leeds to do well. When Leeds do well, so too does the YEP. It's much more fun to write about wins than defeats. Titles beat the hell out of relegations. I've covered two title-winning seasons and several relegations in my career and there's a reason why 2020 and 2025 were so memorable and enjoyable.
Will we give [Lucas] Perri another chance next year, or openly recruit a definitive number 1?
Leeds like Zion Suzuki but not quite as much as the Italian media made out. They certainly have never been as far down the line with it as was suggested over there. I think the reason for that is that they like James Trafford even more. I think he's the reason there hasn't been movement yet for a number one keeper. Now that his World Cup is over - certainly in competitive terms, the third-place game is a bit of a joke - his future will be decided and the noises I hear are reasonably positive and confident. Leeds seem to believe they'll be in with a chance of getting him, if Man City decide to let him out.
Nothing is imminent right now - insert usual caveat about how quickly things can change - and Trafford will soon be off on his three-week break. That would provide ample time for decisions to be made on his next step but equally he might want to take all of that time to clear his head after last season and the World Cup. It could be another wait-and-see job, like Shea Charles.
Whether it's a loan, a loan to buy or a permanent deal, Trafford would be the ideal goalkeeper signing this summer. The best option is obviously a permanent deal, but however it happens it would be spectacular. They are far from his only suitors but with Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic through the door and Brandt still being targeted, Leeds can say to Trafford that there's a real ambition about the club and a chance to progress. He could be part of something special over the next few years. He's 23. He could grow with the club.
Should they pull off the dream deal, then Leeds could let Perri go on loan to Torino - a move that simply cannot happen right now given Farke's current options - and then get an experienced, relatively cheap number two in. Like a 2023 Karl Darlow. Someone to help Trafford with his development and be there as a solid back-up option if required.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying no, I do not think Leeds will give Perri another chance to be number one for the upcoming season. I think Leeds go and get a first-choice stopper. If it's Trafford, great. If not, someone else then.
How difficult is it dealing with a club hierarchy that appears to only engage with local journalists for puff pieces, i.e. genuine transfer news almost always breaking elsewhere?
Not difficult at all. I think even in the Andrea Radrizzani era, a huge proportion of Leeds' incoming transfer business broke first on the continent or through one of the world's foremost transfer specialists, like David Ornstein. There are simple reasons for that. Selling clubs make much more noise about deals than clubs who are buying. Buying clubs want to keep things quiet. Agents want their players spoken about by the biggest journalists on social media. Local journalists covering an English club simply will not have those relationships with the countless agents in Italy, Spain, Germany or wherever.
I wouldn't call the news we've been able to put out - which is always delivered without agenda or without doing anyone a favour - puff pieces. Last summer there were deals that the YEP broke before anyone else, just as there were previously. We had a very decent run of goalkeeper news that came first from the YEP. Kris Klaesson and Joel Robles were YEP scoops. We were early, if not first on Karl Darlow. We were able to break Tarik Muharemovic's flight and medical news this very week. We've broken outgoing news - Harry Gray's done deal with Wednesday was a recent example. His move to Rotherham United was another. Isaac Schmidt's done deal and transfer fee was also this week.
You always hope for a scoop, you always want to be first but it's better to be right than first. The rush to be first has created some very famous issues with either deals themselves or the reporting of deals. Thinking in Leeds terms, it was reported that Michael Cuisance had passed a medical when he had not. He quite famously had not. In January Leeds were said by transfer journalists to be in late-window discussions to sign Romano Schmid when in actual fact the club had not given another thought to the number 10 position after getting Facundo Buonanotte through the door. Earlier this year it was reported that Hidemasa Morita was Elland Road bound. That was news to Leeds and his agent was just as bemused. It simply wasn't real. Double sourcing stories is always best practice, which of course takes longer than just sticking something out from an agent or in the Morita case some random who didn't know what they were on about.
We've seen a lot of very premature reporting on players like Zion Suzuki and Shea Charles this summer, with suggestions that things are closer than they actually have been. Our reporting has been, to the best of our knowledge, factual. Suzuki was and is liked, but there is no active pursuit. Charles is a player Leeds want, are pursuing and they're waiting for Saints to agree a deal. It is not done. I think they can get it done. That's not as exciting as some of the reporting elsewhere, but I like to think accuracy matters to lots of Leeds fans.
As for how difficult or otherwise it is to deal with the Leeds hierarchy - it really isn't. Of course you'd want them to be as open as a book but their priority isn't the local media or any media at all. Their priority is doing business for Leeds and protecting sensitive information. But when we go to them with things we've heard, they almost always confirm or deny and play it straight with us.
Is there a future at Leeds for Dan James? Will Leeds sell Ao Tanaka or Willy Gnonto?
Let's tie all these together because they all fall under a similar bracket. They all have certain levels of popularity with Leeds fans and have contributed to both the cause, the achievements and the entertainment of the fanbase. I expect further departures from Leeds this summer - Paraag Marathe laid the groundwork for supporters to get used to that idea before the window began - and there are players for whom exits make more sense than for others.
Ao Tanaka is one who will get offers this summer, undoubtedly and what he said about considering leaving in January makes me think he's a prime candidate. He came for peanuts and is plainly worth far more now. Leeds want Shea Charles, a central midfielder. They have Ethan Ampadu, who is going nowhere. They have Anton Stach, who is going nowhere. There's Ilia Gruev, who one would imagine will be harder to shift than Tanaka due to his injury status in the second half of last season, and Sean Longstaff. The latter would be forgiven for looking to move this summer given how his 2025/26 season panned out. It would be a real surprise if a current midfielder did not depart in the event that a Charles deal gets done.
And on the wing, Leeds have brought in Harry Wilson. He will surely start on the right. Neither James nor Gnonto enjoyed a great 2025/26 campaign. James was injured too often and Gnonto was used too little. Of the two Gnonto is the likeliest to go, by some distance. That almost has to happen for him to ever reach his potential. James' pace gives Leeds something off the bench but he's got a real job on his hands to get into the starting line-up. For how long will he be happy playing second fiddle?
Why do we seem to be not very proactive at selling players who are surplus to requirements, like Joel Piroe?
Everyone wants their club to sell the players they no longer want. Those players are the players who are hardest to sell. In some cases - like Max Wober and Jack Harrison - their contracts, signed as Premier League players, are problematic. It's difficult to find clubs willing or able to pay a fee and match those wages.
It can sometimes be difficult to motivate a player to leave if he's earning big money that he won't find elsewhere. It can be difficult to motivate a player to leave and drop down a league or move to another country if his dream was Premier League football and his belief is that he can still make it at Leeds - see Joel Piroe last season, when there were options for him, including Rangers.
The ideal with player trading is obviously to sell when players' stock is high, but who wants to see their star players leave? And which manager wants to green light the departure of players he needs and uses? Marathe bristled a little at the suggestion that the club has to do better when it comes to selling and Leeds have at least shown this summer they can get a reasonably decent transfer return [Pascal Struijk] and then quickly replace the outgoing star. They sold Isaac Schmidt and made sure they didn't book a loss. But further sales will be needed and there are players whose wages, at the very least, need clearing from the books. Joe Gelhardt is in that group. Let's see what Leeds can do as a selling club.
Do we expect to keep the system we ended the season playing? 3 at the back or if/when do we revert to the 4-2-3-1 Farke really wants to play?
I still expect the same system and pre-season will give us some idea of where Daniel Farke's head is at. I think we all know his ideal is to dominate possession and play with a back four. I think over time he could revert to that as a base formation, as Leeds improve the technical ability and ball-playing options in the squad. But I don't expect that to be from the start of the 2026/27 season. Staying up was the first goal, staying up is the second goal too. You have to walk before you can run.
If you could get freebies, what food product would you do a promotional tie in with?
Anyone offering unlimited roast chicken. Or Wagyu beef. Or those little tins of mandarin segments in juice. Stick one of them in the fridge for a bit. Incredible.
If you were a fan of Leeds United, what one question above all would YOU ask you?
'Any news Phil?'
With Harry taking his next steps at Wednesday this year, which academy/U21s have the best chance of breaking through and supporting the first team in 26/27?
Jayden Lienou has to be the one to watch. Charlie Crew needs to get going again and there are one or two others who could probably use a loan move to get a taste of men's football, but Lienou is my tip. Wales love him, Leeds seem to quite like him too. I don't see gametime coming quickly for him in the Premier League. He'll be hoping Leeds don't sign another left-back so he can be Gabi Gudmundsson's understudy.
You get to choose four Leeds pre-season games. They have to be in Europe, where are we off to?
Glasgow Rangers, at Ibrox. Then away games at Barcelona, AC Milan and NK Imotski. Look them up. Look their ground up. Croatia is an amazing country to visit.
Does the signing of Tarik represent a longer term strategic move to younger players instead of those players in their prime? And what represents a good season?
Chickened out of typing out his surname, I see. Coward! Leeds recognise that they need to bring the average age of the squad down but that can be done incrementally over the next few windows. They have the foundations of an experienced squad of men, sprinkling young players in, like Muharemovic or someone like Charles, is a good idea. As for the season, anything better than 14th is a stellar season. Anything better than 16th is a good season. Seventeenth is about par.
Most awkward none Leeds manager/player encounter in a presser?
I can't remember the club or the manager but there was a presser in the old 'press room' under the West Stand (a cleared-out bar) that began with the visiting press officer asking if a particular Leeds journalist [not me] was in the room. And when they established that the particular journo was indeed in the room, the presser began. There was no further reference to that journalist or why they wanted to know, but the manager seemed invested in whatever the situation was. I wish I could recall who it was. We never got the bottom of why it was, either. Bizarre and very awkward.
What do you consider necessary from a transfer perspective for Leeds to have a good offseason?
In a post-Muharemovic world, I think a starting goalkeeper, a back-up left-back, another striker and Shea Charles would represent a good summer window. If that goalkeeper is James Trafford then they'd be looking at an A+ window, wouldn't they?