Leeds United transfer scepticism amid takeover wait as Whites prioritise key trio for Championship
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The Whites escaped the drop this time last year thanks to their win at Brentford and Burnley’s loss to Newcastle United. But this time round, not only do the Whites need to beat Tottenham Hotspur, they need to pray for the right results in both games involving fellow strugglers Everton and Leicester City. Safety depends on three separate outcomes and the chances of survival have been given a three per cent rating.
So much of the talk around the club at present revolves not only around league status but the boardroom and more specifically, who sits in it. A takeover by the 49ers is expected to go through in the event of Leeds staying up, but it’s also now looking likely if they go down, as the Americans remain serious about a purchase regardless at a time when Andrea Radrizzani is making moves to get involved at Sampdoria.
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Hide AdNo matter what happens, a squad rebuild is necessary but relegation brings a number of almost certain departures. The books will need to be balanced through player sales and parachute payments, some might decide to seek their top flight fortune elsewhere and some, younger players predominantly, will view the second tier as their ticket to game time. Leeds have views on the players they would seek to try and keep in order to make them the centre of a new side.
Here are 26 of your questions on where things stand at Elland Road and what this summer, one of incredible change, could look like on the playing front and in the corridors of power.
Leeds United Q and A
Key Events
- With a three per cent chance of survival, thoughts are turning to the Championship
- Is the Radrizzani era in its final days now?
- Urgency needed with recruitment decisions and timing key
@Barton2796: Graham, are you ready for another dip in the Championship? Or has the lavish Premier League taken you away from your roots? I am more concerned about you than I am Leeds Utd.
Don’t you worry about me. I survived in the North East Counties League Premier Division. Old Graham will be just fine. Imagine if Leeds stay up though. Just imagine. What a Sunday it would be.
@Ash_LUFC_: If you was on the moon and you started to play Here Comes the Money by Naughty by Nature would the money actually come?
If podcasts run by these guru grifters have taught us anything Ash it’s that if you visualise it, it will happen. You attract what you are. If I’m money, the money will come.
@TheBielsaStand: Do you think Jesse would have kept us up?
Good question. Maybe Leeds would have stayed in games more competitively than they did when things went so badly awry under Gracia. Maybe the weight of such a poor season, with so few wins, would still have ended up crushing the players in the way it did. Under Marsch this season they just didn’t win enough and at Forest he looked out of ideas.
@JRoss287: What do you think was the biggest success of Victor Ortas reign as DoF? What do you think was his biggest failure/downfall?
Raphinha has to go down as his greatest signing, you would think, but creating a recruitment department that is good at picking up talented youngsters might be his lasting legacy. The biggest downfall was evidently the succession plan, post-Bielsa.
@parmadiggyd: What can we expect from 49ers Enterprise?
If Paraag Marathe is to be a key figure at Elland Road then I hope, with full control, he will be a little more forthcoming with detail when talking about Leeds. He’s a slick talker, they’re clearly a slick operation with big ideas on matchday experience but this is Leeds, this is football and getting the culture right will be absolutely vital. I’m not expecting free-spending summers and wild splurges on signings, I think it will be measured expenditure. In the Premier League we could expect Elland Road expansion but in the Championship that is surely going to have to wait.
Ultimately so much of this potential takeover is unknown. What recruitment model do they favour? How will they communicate to fans? Who will become the face of the board? How much structural change will there be to the inner workings of Elland Road? What did they learn from sitting at the table for the past few years and how will they avoid the same mistakes? Big questions to answer and lots of them.
@Mad_Marko: It’s quite ironic that Charlie Cresswell will probably be our key centre back next year when the club pretty much deemed him surplus in January. How close was he to leaving?
From memory, it was considered. There was definitely interest. Thankfully it only ever came to a loan. The picture at centre-half will need clearing up straight away. Robin Koch would be among those I would expect to depart, given his German national team ambitions. Diego Llorente will go, or will have to go, you would think. Charlie Cresswell could slot in next to Liam Cooper or Max Wober, couldn’t he? A young head and old head combination didn’t do so badly the last time Leeds played in the Championship.