Leeds United's disrupted Premier League preparations, football's expected second wave of signings and Illan Meslier's example - Graham Smyth

Just how ready the Premier League is for Marcelo Bielsa’s side and how ready his men are for their top-flight return at Anfield on Saturday, remains very much to be seen.

When he sits down, remotely, with the press to preview the start of his third season in charge at Elland Road the Argentine isn’t likely to get his excuses in early, he’s not the type. But, if he wanted to, he could frame the match in a context that lays bare just how difficult and disrupted pre-season has been.

Liverpool, of course, had players away on international duty too, but as reigning, defending champions of the division you would like to think they’re as Premier League ready as it comes.

Leeds haven’t been a top-flight side since 2004 and very few of Bielsa’s players boast experience of the division on their CVs, even those who returned from international duty this week.

England’s Kalvin Phillips, Northern Ireland’s Stuart Dallas and Poland’s Mateuesz Klich have all proved worthy of international football but not kicked a Premier League ball.

Nor have Rodrigo and Robin Koch, although they have at least tasted the Spanish and German top tiers respectively.

Patrick Bamford, the man Rodrigo must seek to oust from the lone striker role, has 667 minutes of Premier League football under his belt, while captain Liam Cooper played twice in the big league as a kid at Hull City over a decade ago.The memories might come flooding back for those two but, for the vast majority of Bielsa’s men, this will all be very new.

What stands in their stead is that they will be fit. Jamie Shackleton said they had just under two weeks off after the final game of last season before the running started again, so the levels were ‘right up there’ when Thorp Arch opened its gates for pre-season training.

And while even a traditional summer and full Bielsa programme might still not be enough to fully prepare a newly-promoted team for a challenge quite like the one presented by Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, the comforting truth is that Leeds do not need to be the finished article by Saturday evening.

The squad from which Bielsa will pick his starting XI is not going to be the final version that carries the Whites’ survival hopes through to May 2021.

Clubs and agents alike expect a ‘second wave’ of recruitment and Leeds are no exception.

They still plan to bring in an attacking midfielder who can play out wide and a centre-half, as well as further additions to an already-strengthened Under-23s group. There is a suggestion that, as the window nears its conclusion, clubs anticipate a domino effect taking hold, one move begetting another as cash is moved around and player availability shifts.

It is no secret that Leeds have their targets, names that have popped up more than enough times in the European media to make clear the club still have some bold, ambitious ideas up their sleeve to boost Bielsa’s options.

That is all they will be, at first. Options. Players he can train and teach, mould and model. But a player like Rodrigo De Paul would add class and quality and unquestionably improve the squad.

Joško Gvardiol is the front runner for the defensive vacancy but will almost certainly have to bide his time to play, just as Leeds have had to bide their time over his yet-to-be-complete signing.

It is imperative that Leeds get their final signings over the line before it’s too late, but there is no desperation to have them flying into Yeadon before the weekend. There’s almost no point, they just wouldn’t play.

Any player joining the Whites between now and the end of the window can still have a truly significant part to play in a campaign that won’t be quite as match-heavy as the Championship but should still be viewed as a marathon.

Look at Illan Meslier. The French youngster arrived after the first game of the 2019/20 season, didn’t get a sniff of first-team action until January’s FA Cup game at Arsenal and his first league appearance was February 29. His role in the run-in, the confidence he exuded and the performances he gave Bielsa not only helped Leeds claim the title, it helped him lay claim to the number one spot.

Ready or not, the season is here and no matter how problematic the Premier League champions prove for Leeds, they’re a nice problem to have.