Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Leeds United transfer news: Whites favourites to sign £30m ex-Barcelona man, Aston Villa eye £25m-rated lethal striker

Leeds United's pre-season campaign continued yesterday afternoon, with an entertaining 3-2 defeat to Real Betis in Loughborough.

The Whites took an early lead via Patrick Bamford, but conceded twice before the break, and were 3-1 down before the hour mark. Mateusz Klich scored soon after, but his side were unable to find the equaliser.

Meanwhile, Luke Ayling has been reflecting on Leeds' dazzling 2020/21 campaign, and told the YEP: “I’m not really sure when it was [I realised I was a Premier League player]. I was just excited for every game. I couldn’t wait to get out there for every single game; hopefully that carries on this season.”

“The first aim was to stay in the league. We always aimed far higher than that. We finished really well and got into the top half of the table which was good. Our training sessions for the last 10 games or so never changed and, once we knew we were safe, nothing changed around the place, it was always the same every single week.

“I think we showed it in our last six games, with just a great run of form that popped us up in the table really nicely. I think that was key.”

He continued: “But that counts for nothing this year, we’re coming back and starting again. We’ve seen in previous years it’s quite hard the second season, we know it’s going to be a tough season.

“It’s our second year in it, we know it’s going to be a tougher season, people know about us and, from a personal point of view, players have played against you, they might see some things they can exploit.”

We’ve gathered the best of today’s Premier League transfer speculation below…

“The first aim was to stay in the league. We always aimed far higher than that. We finished really well and got into the top half of the table which was good. Our training sessions for the last 10 games or so never changed and, once we knew we were safe, nothing changed around the place, it was always the same every single week.