Leeds United manager Daniel Farke is in a strong position after his side secured Premier League survival with games to spare. However, there are now doubts over his long-term future at the club.
Farke’s position at Leeds came under the scanner immediately after he won promotion to the Premier League last season because of his previous record with Norwich in the top flight.
However, the 49ers chose to stick by him as Leeds manager in the Premier League and continued to support him during a difficult spell last November when there were growing doubts about his future.
He has a year left on his contract at Leeds, and there is an expectation that he will sign a new deal. However, the German has now thrown some doubt over that certainty.
Daniel Farke demands to see ambition from the Leeds board
Leeds have survived in the Premier League. However, it is clear that the manager now wants to take the team to the next level in the upcoming seasons.
The club are expected to offer him a new contract over the summer, but Farke has indicated that he won’t automatically agree to extend his stay at Elland Road.
Farke stressed that he is ambitious as a manager and wants to see that ambition from the Leeds board to take the team to the next level in the coming seasons.
He insisted that he won’t be the right choice to continue at Leeds if the club only want to survive in the Premier League.
“I’m ambitious, and this is quite important for me going forward”, Farke said in a press conference.
“I love attractive football, perhaps for sides in the top half of the table, but I love to be a manager who plays for something rather than to avoid something.
“I’m not the right choice if it’s about maintaining the status quo. I have to be convinced of a project, and I am at my best when I buy into a project. I can be picky and choose what I am convinced of.”
The 49ers can’t afford to lose him
Even if there were some doubters last year, Farke has completely won over the Leeds supporters this year by keeping them in the Premier League.
The German coach found a way to get Leeds out of their rut during October-November, changed formations and never looked back.
Leeds have been one of the toughest sides to beat in the Premier League and have lost just four times in the last 23 Premier League games.
If somehow he decides to walk away from Leeds in the summer, it would be a major PR disaster for the 49ers, and they can’t afford that to happen.
They must convince Farke about their ambition and back him with funds in the market to make further quality additions to the squad in the summer.
