After a solid first season back in the Premier League that ended with a 14th-place finish, Leeds United have already turned their attention to the summer transfer window and the challenge of taking another step forward next season.
Chairman Paraag Marathe has indicated that the club are unlikely to oversee another major squad overhaul, with Leeds believing they already have a strong core group of players to build around.
Even so, there is no sense of complacency at Elland Road. Daniel Farke has repeatedly emphasised the importance of ambition and is eager to see the club build on the progress made over the past year. The Leeds manager wants to add further quality to his squad and ensure the team continues to improve rather than merely aiming to preserve their Premier League status.
The Whites will have money to spend this summer. However, former Everton CEO Keith Wyness has indicated that the Whites may not blow up their budget in the upcoming window.
Leeds United have been backed to spend around £70m
Following survival in the Premier League, Leeds have bagged a prize money of £144m, apart from the broadcast revenue they will get for last season.
Wyness believes Leeds are likely to spend around 50 per cent of that money from the Premier League, rather than blow it away on transfers this summer.
He insisted that the 49ers would want long-term stability, and while they would back Farke in the market, the owners would not blow away everything in one window.
“I would expect Leeds, if they’re being clever, to be looking at maybe between 30 to 50 per cent of that money being spent on strengthening the squad. think that’s where it’s got to go”, Wyness told Football Insider.
“They’ve got to look at longer-term issues at least to give stability and go forward. I think they’ve got enough of a squad right now where it can be a few tweaks and changes without having to go wholesale.
“I’d expect somewhere between the £50-70m mark would be where they’d be going, and I think they’ll now trust Farke to work on the squad and to get that right in the way it’s going forward.”
£70m is not enough
Farke’s demand for more ambition from the owners would sound hollow if the club ended up spending less than what they did last summer.
Leeds spent more than £100m last summer to overhaul their squad, and while they do not need that volume of signings, they need more quality and that costs money.
The Whites cannot afford to have a budget of less than £100m this summer, and expect to bring in the ‘difference-makers’ they want in the upcoming window.
Leeds cannot afford to stand still as every club will spend money, even the promoted teams, and they could get left behind pretty quickly.
I hope Wyness is wrong, and Leeds will be spending considerably more than the £70m figure this summer.
