As a newly-promoted club, staying up in the Premier League provides you with a lot of advantages. Leeds United witnessed this first hand during last summer.
Even as a promoted side, they were able to rival top clubs in Europe for top players. The Whites ended up signings quality starters like Jaka Bijol, Anton Stach and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. All these are players who would not bat an eye if a Championship club approached them in that same window.
The Whites have done well to give themselves a fighting chance this season. And after beating Burnley, Leeds have all but secured another season in the top flight. With that comes its own challenges.
Manager breaks silence on future of Leeds United target
After the win on Friday night, Stuart Dallas sounded a warning to his former club not to repeat previous mistakes. Winning promotion in 2020, the club managed to stay up, but their transfer window the season after was terrible, leading the team to narrowly avoid relegation. Leeds eventually went down, and it was as a result of poor signings.
If they manage to stay up this season, they need to target key additions in the summer. And they are doing just that; weeks ago the Whites were linked with Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda. The Japanese international has 26 goals this season and is being monitored by several clubs. This week, Feyenoord boss Robin Van Persie admitted it will be difficult to keep the striker past this summer.
“From my point of view, I hope he is there next year. He is super important for us and within our style of play,” he said (quotes via 1908 NL).
“He started very well, then had a somewhat weaker period, and we talked about that as well. It is nice to see that he bounced back from that; it also speaks volumes about his character.”
“From his perspective, it might be a good time to make a move, but that is not up to me. I have no idea if that is realistic, but as I said: I hope he stays.”
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Competition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a good thing
Some fans may see a new striker as a potential replacement for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but it is not. This season, the Whites have had two main options – Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha. Both have contributed well this season, but there have been points that the team needed more goalscoring up front. And the alternative to these two is Joel Piroe, who has lost his place in the team under Daniel Farke, and could very well leave this summer. So it is the right thing to bring in another forward and get healthy competition in a team that lacks goals.
