Leeds United continue to be active in the transfer market but fans and journalists alike know that there is plenty more to come.
Four signings have been made by Leeds United, with the 49ers showing their ambition as Daniel Farke’s side gear up for the Premier League.
Promotion secured Leeds a financial windfall and just over £30 million has been spent on the defence, which bodes well for Leeds’ £100 million transfer budget.
Leeds could spend big this summer despite the fact Leeds have a £61 million PSR problem to overcome as well. In spite of all that, it’s been stated previously that Leeds will be one of Europe’s busiest sides.
Photo by Harry Trump/Getty ImagesGraham Smyth’s verdict on what Leeds need to spend their transfer budget on
There is now talk that Leeds need to start addressing the big-money signings of this summer. A Leeds squad overhaul is being undertaken thus far.
Graham Smyth has spoken on the Inside Elland Road Podcast to provide his verdict on the current situation: “I feel like Leeds are caught in this tension of not wanting to overpay.
“I think what they’re trying to do is save money for the top end of the pitch where they’re going to have to spend big.
“Spend big on a striker, and possibly a No.10, and probably a winger. Those players cost the earth, generally.
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“So, you don’t want your kind of unsexy, athletic, runs around a lot, will tackle a lot, fine on the ball — you don’t want them to cost you £15 million upwards, do you?
“You don’t want to be spending £30 million on a player that’s not really going to be a match-winner for you. Probably not?
“The other thing that they are battling with is time. Because they go to play to the training camp in Germany. You really want to have a couple of faces in before then.
“You don’t want to be playing too many pre-season games thinking, ‘well, he’s not going to start, he’s not going to start, and these are placeholders’.
“Because the team’s not gelling then. You’re not getting that cohesion. You’re starting to run the risk of not hitting the ground running at the start of the season.
“If they get the right players in, and they stuck to their guns all summer and didn’t overpay, I think it would be incredibly admirable and sensible.
“And we’ll look back on it and say, ‘Fair play. Well done. You showed resolve and you didn’t put the club in financial peril and you saved money for the right players.’
“But, if they don’t get the right players in or it runs too late into August and get off to a poor start, it will reflect very poorly indeed.
“So, it’s all about — the end is going to justify the means, isn’t it? Either way? And that’s what they’re going to be judged on.
“I feel like they need a bit of a statement soon in terms of a signing. They need someone who will really get people going and get juices flowing.”
Photo by George Wood/Getty ImagesHow will Leeds’ remaining transfer budget be distributed out?
Paraag Marathe made a transfer window pledge that he ultimately ended his words with: “We want to be as aggressive as we can be, which is probably going to require us to be as creative as we can be as well.”
There is set to be a change in approach to transfers, with the 49ers ready to take risks through how they structure deals. Leeds still need seven signings after Gabriel Gudmundsson and that is a lot of work to do.
However, the majority of the budget will go into Leeds’ spine after securing Jaka Bijol, with a goalkeeper, a couple of central midfielders, and a ready-made striker all required before the deadline.
Leeds need to secure those as swiftly as possible for as much of pre-season as possible. As Smyth alludes to, having chemistry building in training and in some sort of competitive match situation is paramount.
Leeds have made a strong start but momentum has slowed with targets not being acquired as quickly as others, leaving Leeds with plenty to do before they face Everton on opening weekend.