Serie A interest is possible Leeds United solution for awkward scenario as defender's return looms

Among those making their way through the doors to be poked, prodded and tested to within an inch of their lives on day one will be a number of individuals whose fitness levels won't make any material difference to Leeds' season. Having to check back in at Thorp Arch during week one might focus a few minds on getting moves sorted, for not everyone in the current squad wants to play in the Championship and not everyone can be retained by Leeds.

If you were to pluck three names from the expected day one group, names you wouldn't bet on adorning white shirts at Elland Road on August 6, then Robin Koch, Marc Roca and Junior Firpo would be on most tongues. Koch has already been linked with a plethora of moves, someone has been busy seeding this idea of him leaving on a free when they really mean being loaned out for the final year of his deal. Roca's people have been investigating loan possibilities in Spain. Firpo's time at Leeds could also be coming to an end.

Others, like Tyler Adams and Jack Harrison, could yet leave and might be reasonably expected to harbour immediate ambitions beyond the second tier, but 49ers Enterprises want to keep them. Others still might decide that their future is so definitely going to unfold elsewhere that a bleep test in West Yorkshire is not for them. Helder Costa has spent two years away from Leeds on loan and is not expected to make a shock comeback.

There will also be those who are perfectly content to remain, players you would expect to see on the team sheet for the league opener against Cardiff City, whether in the starting XI or on the bench. Luke Ayling, Patrick Bamford, Liam Cooper are three of the likeliest to feature all season in the new training kit they pull on this week.

And then there are those whose future could just as likely lie with Leeds as lie elsewhere. Right now, it feels 50:50.

Into that bracket falls Cody Drameh, a player who poses a somewhat awkward question for the new ownership and management regimes.

Last season he stuck around, initially, because Leeds wanted him to. Ayling wasn't ready for the start of the season and back-up was required for newly signed £10m Denmark international Rasmus Kristensen. Drameh sat on the bench for the first five games of the season and then got a sniff of a chance when Kristensen picked up a knock prior to Brentford away. Into the side came the youngster, he played 70 minutes of Premier League football and though he wasn't the worst performer or particularly culpable, Leeds lost 5-2 and he didn't feature again in the league for the Whites all season.

What was strangest of all about Drameh's season was how good he looked during the training camp in Spain and how that didn't seem to matter too much because with Kristensen and Ayling ahead of him there was no chance of senior football. So when January arrived, Drameh departed for Luton on loan.

Leeds soldiered on, Ayling taking the starting role from the struggling Kristensen and looking solid enough before going through his own fluctuation in form as the side faltered under Jesse Marsch's replacement Javi Gracia. By the time Sam Allardyce patrolled the technical area, Ayling and Kristensen were side-by-side as right-back and centre-half respectively in a team that could not avoid relegation.

Drameh, meanwhile, was going the other way with Luton, earning Premier League promotion via the play-offs and putting together another eye-catching second tier loan stint.

Now into the final year of his Leeds contract, Drameh presents a bit more of a head-scratcher than some others in the squad, because he's plainly good enough for a Championship promotion push. He's only 21. A project worth pursuing, if ever there was one. But he will need to play. Third fiddle is simply not an option, because there are better options out there for him. Second fiddle isn't likely to do either.

The early indications this summer were that both Ayling and Kristensen could still be in place, which made a Drameh exit appear almost inevitable. Yet recent noises on the continent over Serie A interest in Kristensen could offer Leeds a way out of the somewhat awkward scenario of boasting three right-backs who could all play in the Championship without, you'd think, too much trouble.

Drameh we've covered. Ayling is more than adequate for a team pushing to escape the second tier, and he's a leader. Kristensen's struggles last season came in the Premier League, against the elite, in a team that couldn't control games and heaped pressure on their defence - full-backs especially. His passing ability remains a concern but in a team expected to be among the more dominant in the division, concerns over his overall play would surely quieten.

But when you look at the trio, it's clear which man best represents the future, if he can be convinced that he's got a big part to play in it. Making that argument to a young player and his representatives will be nigh on impossible if they can point to the existence of the same two senior defenders who stood in his path last season.

Any reticence to abandon the ideology that put together last season's right-back department would be difficult to understand, given the recruitment and managerial regimes are being reset almost in their entirety. Though contract situations and players' prospects of getting the same money elsewhere tend to dictate the ease with which you can create a blank canvas, this is a fresh start. A chance to look and think again.

When Leeds first signed Drameh, a pathway was spoken about with significant volume that it must have been a big part of his decision to leave Fulham. Relegation and an almost-complete takeover are a broom with which Leeds can clear away whatever has gone before and establish a fresh pathway to where both Drameh and Leeds ultimately want to go.