Leeds United's 31 burning questions on Kalvin Phillips' contract, Raphinha, Cody Drameh and summer transfers
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Barcelona's interest in Raphinha is the talk of European football and although Leeds are well aware of the Spanish giants' admiration for the winger, they're determined to get a fair price if a sale has to be made. That issue and many others are covered in our latest Q and A, with 31 of your questions answered with what we know and think right now.
Click HERE for the latest on Raphinha.
Leeds United Q and A
Key Events
- Raphinha latest as Barcelona make interest clear
- Summer recruitment - scale and need
- Future Elland Road plans
- Cody Drameh - what next?
@LufcScott: Would you rather report on us finishing 17th but getting to a FA Cup final or third round but finishing eighth?
Whichever gets me on a plane for some European football, please.
What do you think a realistic points target is needed to avoid relegation?
Two wins probably does it, but let’s say seven more points for Leeds to be sure. If they hit 36 points they’ll surely stay up.
Jack Douglas: Keen to know about Cody Drameh’s future. Sounds like he’s tearing it up for Cardiff but with the way it ended at Leeds, is there a way back for him even under new management? Realistically we are likely to need a new RB and LB should we stay up, so could he be the option as Ayling’s successor?
I don’t think Cody Drameh’s loan move to Cardiff City was necessarily quite as dramatic as it seemed, in the end. I think Leeds need to prove they have moved away from this notion, perceived or otherwise, that a player going out on loan is as good as sold. Drameh is proving himself in the Championship, which bodes well. He was brought in to be developed as a successor to Luke Ayling and I don’t see why that cannot remain the case. He’ll clearly want to be playing football next season so there’s a choice to be made over a further loan perhaps. As far as I’m aware no bridges were burned.
Daniel Robinson: It seems inevitable we will lose Rapha given his stock is so high but assuming we stay up, would you foresee any other big departures or would the sale/reinvestment (hopefully) be enough to keep the likes of KP at the club?
If you want to ‘do a Leicester’ then selling a player for huge profit now and again makes sense. What wouldn’t make sense would be to lose two or three of your stars at once. Leeds will subscribe to that theory and while they may be open to Raphinha’s departure, if the winning bid makes financial sense, I get no impression that they’ll be happy to let Kalvin Phillips or Illan Meslier go at the same time.
@TeamKins: Best thing that’s happened for you personally (but professionally) whilst covering the club?
Reporting on Premier League football, from Premier League grounds. Writing about football at any level is a privilege to be enjoyed but this is a dream come true.
Nick Dawe: What would be your perfect, realistic summer transfer window for Leeds?
Five quality additions to bolster the squad, if Raphinha is sold, and no other significant departures. Some staffing additions. A pre-season trip somewhere warm with a beach, if that’s not straying too far from realistic. You did also say perfect...
@wdw83: My question(s)… where is Bielsa now? Will there ever be an interview with him about his time at Leeds? Are we likely to see him in football again?
Marcelo Bielsa is back in Argentina now. I couldn’t predict if he’ll speak about his time at Leeds but I hope he does, if only to articulate to supporters just how much that period of his life meant to him. But if he doesn’t, we still know what he felt for the club and it’s supporters. As for another job, maybe he’ll return to international football. A difficult, if not impossible man to second-guess.
@FenwickTy: Who in the Leeds squad would you least want to fight?
Illan Meslier. With his reach advantage it would be a horribly humiliating experience for a man of my stature, being picked off at ease with jabs. You can well imagine his fighting talk would be equally difficult, delivered in that deep, deadpan tone. They say you have to be mad to be a goalkeeper but in reality you have to be tough as teak. He can take punishment and play on. Raphinha would have you in the stare down, though wouldn’t he? Not a man to be trifled with when he’s on one. Dan James’ speed would be a problem. Giving this too much thought now.
@TomMarkland1: With Raphinia potentially leaving and Marsch previously employing tactics that use attacking midfielders opposed to out and out wingers, how do you see us using the money for Raphinha and what is the future for players like Harrison?
Jack Harrison has and can play more centrally. Marcelo Bielsa saw him as a striker, when the need arose, and Jesse Marsch seems to really like him. I think he’ll be fine at Leeds with the American in charge. I could see Raphinha being replaced by an attacking midfielder.
@JamesRathbone94: In the current squad Graham. Who do you think the most influential player has been? And who do you think could excel in the future?
It depends very much how you define influence. Off the field Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling, Adam Forshaw and Stuart Dallas have all been incredibly influential. Performance wise no one has done more this season than Raphinha. As for the future, Joe Gelhardt will come into his own, Kalvin Phillips will continue to lead by example and Charlie Cresswell has leader written all over him.