Summer Transfer Thread

thank Fook we are staying up,I couldn't take another summer of our players being sold for peanuts.

hopefully it's a busy summer with 6 or 7 first team players brought in and no doubt a few for the u23's as well.

can see a few 1st teamers leaving as well-Firpo, Rodrigo, Llorente, maybe James.

When will the Ryan Kent rumours start?

Why does everybody think the 49ers are definitely going to buy us? And why 2024? I find it difficult to believe the grapevine gossip that they are biding their time raising the finances. It certainly doesn't take two years to do an acquisition. I read this rumour all the time, but can't find a source or quote anywhere that backs it up.

I personally am more than happy with Radz continuing to own the club. He has been the best owner since Leslie Silver. After Ridsdale, MacKenzie, Trevor Birch, Bates, those chancers from the Gulf and Cellini, it's been a roller coaster ride of mostly lows, so to me AR's financial competence has been a welcome relief. Not that I doubt the 49ers, not for a minute - they are no doubt a well run outfit, but their intentions are still unknown.

I don't think we should get carried away with transfer headlines. Aaranson looks in the bag, and presumably a LB will be on their way, possibly another midfielder. Depending what happens with Raph, we might have a bigger transfer kitty, but personally, I'd rather use what money we have to keep him. The transition of the u23s to first teamers is still going to be the main project - that's why Mark Jackson was promoted to first team coach. And next year we can look forward to Archie Gray making his long awaited debut.

Stu, when an owner is looking to sell any business, they do not invest.

The ball is in the 49ers court. This season we will turnover around £200m making us a bargain at the £470million AR seeks particularly as 49ers already own 44%.

I expect them to but another 31% minimum in the summer. This gives AR £145million or at least £45million profit on the money he has sent on LUFC. They would then own 75% and could invest £75million with AR needing to match that with £25million.

AR's worth is reported to be £450million whilst 49ers turnover if £1billion+ per season.

Leeds potentially are far bigger than Chelsea and they are about to be sold for £4.5billion. The Americans know a good deal when they see one!

Now it is time for AR, PM and VO to ensure we invest wisely. A small squad does not work in the Prem. Next season is is 5 subs so plenty of chances to give game time to others.

Patrick has shown he cannot play every game, Joffy has shown we will get niggles as will AF. DL and RK have shown they cannot get through a full season and so on. Bill May be out until October, SD is unlikely to feature until 2023 and so on.

JM has indicated that he will rotate the squad. So we need a bigger squad!

Aaronson due to sign in next few days now we've stayed up....

It is on LeedsNewsNow site but is also by a respected journalist. Great news if true and can't believe we'd actually sign a player EARLY in the window!!

Yes! It’s downright fantastic. After the results on Thursday, things did not really look good. This is huge. Almost the same feeling as when we went up, two years ago 🙏

We can all look a head to a positive summer Danish.

Taylor isn't a bad full back, the way he left us perhaps wasn't all down to him.

We've got a decent chance now of keeping Philips (show him our ambition) and if Rapha still wants to go it will be much more on the clubs terms.

Staying up is just huge Danish! Fantastic.

Hopefully we’ll keep Phillips and Meslier. Raphinha could be lost, though for a lot of money. If this money is used on Aronsson (or possibly a better no. 10) and a proper left back (Taylor would be good enough for me), then I’d like to see all the following given plenty of game time next season: Cresswell, Drameh, Bogusz, Summerville, Gelhardt, Bate and Greenwood. Heard that James is wanted in Italy: let him go! If Rodrigo is homesick, I’d get as much money for him as possible with a smile on my face. Probably feel the same way about Firpo and Llorente… However, I think that Koch has potential. Cooper and Harrison should also be close to our starting-11, while Ayling, Klich and maybe even Dallas could find themselves to be squad players. Interesting summer ahead! MOT

Leeds finalis Aaronson transfer

A no from me - not on the way he left us - he can enjoy his time in Championship with Bumley

He would do TC10, still like him.

Get Charlie Taylor in as LB!!

@Daniel2 I’ve no issue with giving youth a chance. However your argument of Gotts and Stevens was a very poor example. They weren’t played because they weren’t good enough.

Now Marsch is here there is a strong chance that some of the youth team will be given a chance to shine. That being said, he has a much bigger problem to sort out first, Premiership survival. Does he throw some untested kids on when we are fighting for our lives.

Gelhardt has been great when called on. Greenwood has shown a bit of promise too. But take a look at he Palace game when we had both of them on the pitch. The ball never stuck up front, they couldn’t get a touch and we managed to hold out for a point. Being honest I wouldn’t fancy starting a match with them both on in place of Rodrigo and James.

- Klaesson was playing first team football when we signed him.

- Hjelde has just finished playing 15 straight games as a first teamer out on loan in the Scottish top flight before returning to Celtics then signing for us.

- Summerville had a successful loan prior to signing for us.

- McCarron, Allen, McKinstry and Gelthart had all first team football game time before signed them.

If you think about the above and then put yourself in there shoes sitting in the u23's and something not even getting game time there because are/were told to train with first team which conflicts with a u23's game. Would you be happy?

@Richard Jackson Alying performances have that bad this season. Dremah played a couple of games as a sub and a start and preformed better. So yes he should have been given a chance above Ayling. Has Hjelde, Gelthart, Greenwood, Summerville, McKinstry and Cresswell let us down when they play? No, so why not allow a chance to play as good knows it is no worse then what we have been made to watch at times. All at the same time no but if the first team player is not performing the he can get the fu8k back to the bench and his spot can go to someone else and why not someone young who be bought or developed.

The situation with the younger players is much more complex than described. This is not a normal youth team, ie one where the players progresses through the age groups. Many of the players have been transfers in their own right. Gelhardt cost a transfer fee in excess of a million, and had already played for Wigans first team and scored for them. He may have played in the u23s but he was always earmarked for the first team. Greenwood cost £1.5m, Bate cost £1.5m, Klaesson cost £1.6m, Hjelde and Poveda cost fees - these were transfers, bought with a view to playing in the first team squad. McKinstry, McCarron, McGurk, Summerville, Drameh, Allen and Bogusz were signings from other teams. They are different to the likes of Cresswell, Kenneh and McCalmont who were signed as youth prospects. We should therefore expect a much higher hit rate than the average for these players when it comes to making the jump to first team football. And that's not just my opinion, it's the club's position as well - otherwise they wouldn't have installed a management team with a background in developing young players - Marsch himself is renowned for his youth philosophy, Toshak was Swansea's youth coach from 2013-19, and Mark Jackson - I believe he might have had a background in u23 and u18 coaching.

No it didn't Soopa, and we simply can't expect any help from others.

Very much fear to get relegated, it would be disastrious for so many reasons.

I'm afraid next season, out of necessity, that will see plenty of the youngsters.

Bate, McGurk are also looking very promising.

I'd also point out that if a player gets 2 years at U23 level and an average professional career is 12 years, then due to the limited squad places at first team level only 1 in 6 U23 graduates can get a full career out of it. That's an average across all of football.

The whole idea behind Victor Orta's policy is to bring in lots of good U23's at a low price and hope that 1 in 6 become a diamond. It's not appropriate to expect all of them to succeed.

So far Meslier, Struijk have made it - Greenwood, Gelhardt look very promising now. That means there's another 20 players who won't make it statistically.....

Facts are that Leeds is certainly one of the very fews clubs that actually gives youth a chance → Geldhardt, Sommerville, Greenwood, Bate, Hjelde, Cresswell, Drameh, Shackleton.

In total 7 or 8 youngsters have played for the first team + Kenneh & Gray have also made the bench.

What other club in the Premiership can match those numbers.

Granted that some got their chance, because of the number of injuries we got and having such a small first team squad.

On Gotts & Stevens.

What Premiership or Championship club are Gotts & Stevens now playing for?

If Bogusz's agent struggled or was lucky to find him a club, what does that say about the agent or the player?

There is nothing wrong with playing a few, is they're good enough.

Throwing them in, all at the same time is a different matter.

Having them out there, when they're not quite ready isn't gonna help them or the their careers. We shouldn't forget how difficult it is for a young player to play in an already struggling side. Much easier to accommodate players in a team that has no relegation worries.

Well then whats the point of expending money on these young players if we just let the rot with out having a chance actually play in the first team? What is wrong playing few?

I also heard about the rumors of young player unrest in the U23's and while someone above pointed out Dremah, i have heard the before him there was Jordan Steven and Robbie Gotts and suddenly they left club. Boguez also said something and luckly his agent found him something, Summerville, Greenwood have also said something late last year. That is rumours of 6 players. That indicates a problem. Oh and the latest i heard is even Shackleton has said something and he is leeds through and through.

100% guy.

Its a massive step the Premier League and even within the PL there are different levels. People will argue if indeed the PL is the best league in the world, but nobody would argue it isn't in the top 3 so by default the players in that league have a quality that's far better than average in 90% of the top leagues in Europe.

I do also agree (regardless where we are playing football next season) we need new signings, strength and depth in the squad, otherwise 22/23 we will be looking over our shoulders for much of the year instead of looking up and breaking new ground.

Thing is, a lot if not everything will depend on the league we'll be in.

If we manage to survive, it's pretty obvious that if we don't want go through another struggle, the need for quality reinforcements is staring us in the face.

With all respect, what makes people believe players that like McCalmont & Bogusz are ready and have the ability to play at the very top level.

McCalmont is currently playing at league one club Morecambe (19th in league 1), and he's not even getting in their team every time.

Think about it, he's at Morecambe after being at Oldham the season before.

Not one single Championship side came in for him.

Boguez had a very good start (goals & assists) to the season with Ibiza (second division, mid table position), then faded and got this serious (acl damage).

Remains to be seen how and if he fully recovers.

Drameh has done very well at Cardiff, but that's in the Championship in a struggling team with far less expectations and demands than at LUFC & most Premiership sides.

There have been plenty of players standing out at Championship level, but who then turned out to be pretty average/poor in the Premiership.

There's no shame in that, but not every player is made to play at the toplevel, even if they've got a link with LUFC.

The same applies for the U-23's, there are talented lads in there.

Some will make in the Premiership, others will have decent/good careers at a different level. However, not all of them will make the cut.

Now, if the worse happens, there will be a far more serious overtun of players (numbers out) and more youth will get their chance.

McKinstry has been really good this season in the U23s - I think Leeds should actively look to get him in at least a League 1 team next season - I really like the way Ben White was brought through the leagues and now we have talented kids I'd like us to try the same.

Bogusz is at an age where he should be doing the business, but the bad injury will have put him back. I can't see him being anywhere close to our first team next season. McCalmont? Has he done enough? Another loan for me.

Cody Drameh is ready and worth fighting for the No 2 jersey, his issue is more the bridges he burnt and I reckon it's 50/50 he gets sold.

I was aware (and posted here back in January) there was some discord in the U23s who felt they should be playing - then Drameh left the club and deleted his Leeds social media - you can draw your own conclusions.

It is interesting to see what happens with Boguez who is 20 and would suit either sitting next Philips or playing behind the front man, McCalmont (21) who also would suit both positions. Then there is Cody Dremah who looks ready for crack. Do they send McKinstry (19) out on loan?

The other point to note is that James does put the effort in. Costa didn't look as if he was trying. I do understand the temptation to try and play Raphinha, Harrison and James together in the same team, but I think Raphinha would be the best of the three playing in a central position, he certainly can score goals. As to an extent does Harrison! I don't ever see Costa playing for us again. I expect him.to be shipped out on loan again, but it won't be to a club of Valencia's stature. Blackburn do seem very excited to have Poveda back, I will be interested to see what he does in pre season.

In general Shacks has done well when turning out for the first team (mostly at the back or as a wingback. Have to say I don't see him as a center mid.

To further his career he certainly needs far more time on the pitch.

A spell at a good Championship side would be ideal.

On Rodrigo, admittedly his goalratio per minute looks rather good, but this doesn't tell the whole story. MB subbed him a lot (at ht or the hour mark) because his contribution had amounted to nada.

Again, lately he's been far more present & effective.

On Costa & James, I would be fairly happy if their crossing ability would mean finding their intended man 5 times out of 10.

In terms of pace & acceleration Costa is effectively yards behind James (I would even go as far and say that McCarron is quicker than Costa).

James is a winger by trade, made to play as a striker.

The free role doesn't suit either player, because as you say, they've both got a lack of football knows/intelligence.

Both are indeed lightweight, but I've never seen Costa putting his opponent under pressure, close people down & track back, let alone putting in a tackle.

Both players are brushed aside with ease (pity because we've got simply too many lightweights in our team), but again there is no comparision between the two. If you only look at Costa from the right angle, he's already on his way down. OK I'm exagerrating somewhat, but you know what I mean.

But truth be said, I do agree that both so far, have not warranted their transferfees. Have always felt we needed reinforcements in other areas, not another winger when we already had Rapha, Harrison & plenty of back-up.

I'm not the biggest fan of James, but to compare him with Costa is stretching it.

James's first touch isn't the best and to put it mildly he's not a natural goalscorer.

But his pace does mean he often gets away with that poor first touch and he does scare defenders and works ever so hard.

Costa usually breaks as much sweat as a tourist on a beach, the lad adds nothing.

So regarding James, did we get value for money, at 30M?

Not yet, but considering the price tags the same can be said of Rodrigo and certainly Firpo. Have to add that Rodrigo is starting to show his quality.

Both Llorente & Koch have had good games, but equally as many poor ones.

To me Koch (most of the time) looks lost in midfield.

Forshaw has his limitations but has had a decent season, but we could do with someone with more mobility and pace in there.

Playing others (Koch, Klich, Struyck) in his position hasn't always worked out either. In a lot of games our midfield has struggled with KP missing and even then we've been outrun/outplayed/overpowered/outnumbered on plenty of occasions.

Nobody's expecting us to splash £40-£50M just on one player.

However a transferbudget or outlay of £50M to £60M should get you at least 2 - 3 quality players. On top of those we could/should give the likes of Geldhardt, Summerville, Cresswell & a couple of others more game time next season.

As Soopa points out if Rapha goes that would add another £40 or £50M to the kitty or cover the majority of our outlay.

The rebuilding of ER will indeed turn out to be very expensive, but wouldn't impact FFP. The club should look for sponsorship deals and use the knowhow/money of the 49RS.

To be honest if we are planning to sell a centreback then i would try to sell Llorente as we maybe able to get something decent for him and he is injuries prone. Personally see the Forshaw as a waste of weekly wage cash (can not see what he offers).

This morning I was talking with a friend and i complained about the waste of money i thought Dan James was and he said the following "can you tell me the difference between James and Costa are?" That has got me thinking, what is the difference?

It was interesting listening to JM's pre Palace press conference and may give some clues as to our business during the close season. It was abundantly clear that JM wants to progress the youngsters into the 1st team squad, indeed he even said that Cresswell should be in the side. Also mentioned has had deep conversations with Joffy & Greenwood and to a lesser extent Summerville.

So what can we deduce from this?. Well for me there may be more outgoings than incomings. Pretty much sure that Aaranson will be on that way in and perhaps another striker but other than that, I'm not sure.

As regards departures, I expect Klich, Koch, Rapha to be on the bus and possibly Dramah & Proveda. Philips will also go if we do not secure our Premiership status irrespective of the financial package offered. He is an England international and needs to play at the top ( none of us could blame him for that).

We are never going to trouble the Top 6 for a number of years, however I think we have the makings of a decent squad that could comfortably finish consistently inside the Top 10 or maybe a European place.

First things first, Palace away!!!

I'll try to decypher the numbers:

Leeds posted a profit for last year, when results were posted on April 6th. This put Leeds 23rd in the world for BAU turnover (Excl. exceptionals like Xfers). Most notable was the £20M commercial revenue, which is outstanding for a "non big 6" team.

On the down side, we were rock bottom of the Xfer revenue league - unsurprising given we have sold nobody but spent £100M of our turnover and ownership cash on new players.

Moving forward (as Smurf points out) we have a desire to rebuild the stadium which won't be cheap, we also have the overhang of the JKA case to settle. We have the BAU revenues to fund a lot of this plus further SF49ers money.

To fund Xfers it's going to be mostly what comes in goes back out. Rapha should bring in £40-£50M (that's the reality folks), which Leeds will spend on a young No10 (Aaronsen most likely) and 1 other attacking first team headliner. Drameh is 50/50 to stay so we may need a fullback on top.

If Leeds lose Meslier they will replace like for like, Phillips will be paid properly and stay most likely. There will undoubtedly be at least 3 exciting U23s join us too.

But where does the money come from? Our wage bill is currently £110m per year and is only going to keep increasing. Not to mention, we have huge capital commitments, namely to increase the stadium. Realistically, we can afford one quality signing, maybe two if we target 21 year olds like Aaranson, or we could sell assets. Personally, I think VO has got it right. We can't compete with Man City and the super rich clubs in the transfer market, but we can be smarter, we can buy clever and improve the players that we already have. Given that we have appointed a while new coaching staff renowned for blooding youngsters and improving players, it's very clear what direction the club is going.

So I'm firmly in your camp Bull.

If we manage to survive this season (a certainty for the optimists amongst us, have been a Leeds fans far too long to take anything for granted) we need to invest in quality.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting for one second that we've got some very talented youngsters coming along. This season has proven (very much affected by injury), how difficult life can be in the Premiership, we would do well not to make the same mistakes again.

Bull, sorry mate. But in truth I was just trying to be sarcastic...

Kun just needs someone to give him a chance and believe in him.... and Jesse Marsch could be that guy...👍

Poveda does seem to have been handed an olive branch and is heading back to Blackburn on loan. None of us really know what Marsch is likely to do with regard to the existing players, though he has talked very favourably about the existing squad. I could see a surprise or two, and in particular - Bogusz.

I did like what I saw of Kun, but he does seem to be a perennial sub in the Spanish third tier

I'm really hoping JM sees something he likes in Kun and Poveda... because they really do have the potential to become great players 👍

Fortunately, De Bock's contract expires in the summer. Kiko is likely to be paid off for the one year remaining on his and we will try to sell Costa for anything we can get.

The rest are likely to go out on loan again or be sold unless JM sees something in them in preseason.

We don't need any more players as we've got quality in abundance.

And don't forget we've got the likes of Kiko, De Bock, McCalmont, Costa, Kun, Poveda, Davis all coming back to us.

So even if Raphina & Philips were to leave, we've still got plenty of cover.

We should/could perhaps consider giving Bouy another crack at it, the lad was never really given (a fair) chance. European football here we come.

Divock Origi is a decent shout and at 11million would certainly improve our squad, still young at 27 and we could at least offer him more game time than where he currently is. But why would anyone deliberately leave this current liverpool team?

Midfield i think we could do alot worse than James Ward Prowse at Southampton, 27 years old, PL experience, less than 30million, wouldnt want "massive" wages i would have thought, decent player and an excellent dead-ball specialist, ticks alot of boxes in my book

Dan James best position is winger.... well i am not sure about this as everything demonstrated to date at Leeds thus far has shown he has next to no game I.Q. it is purely his speed that he depends on. Side note, he is not the fastest in the club as McCarron claims that.

If i was buying a Striker and it would be Liverpool's Divock Origi or Luka Jovic real Madrid (heard he is unsettled)

If i was buying a midfielder it would be Morgan Gibbs-White from Sheffield united or Florian Neuhaus from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Im in the same boat with that thinking Smurf

Hopefully we bring back Dremah from his loan as it will be like a new signing.

Hopefully Boguez recovers from his injury and get a shot at the midfield position. Even McCalmont needs a chance.

For me signing a Attacking Midfielder of serious experience would be a good start. Swift from reading is a solid pro and might be suited to us but otherwise i not sure.

Dan James situation should ever happen again. To much money wasted here.

It's a bit No from the North of Ireland re Normman.

Any striker we buy needs to be better than Gelhardt and Greenwood. JM really rates Greenwood and has as good as said he's going to play him, and fandom totally loves Joffy - the New Rooney, so unless it's someone of the calibre of Marcus Rashford or equivalent, I see no need to chase wanderlust forwards.

Get me an attacking midfielder and I'll be happy.

This place still has mods?

Thought they’d all gone to various scum sites for their kicks.😬

I've contacted the mods who see your over zealous replys as inadequate and unappropriate for this forum.

Expect something in your inbox from the powers that be.... although I've heard you're partial to that

or TC on a rant me be like

How dare you disagree with me Bull and very rude....😜🖕🥊👍

Do remember that in my last paragraph I mentioned Normman as COVER/COMPETITION at a very reasonable price.... are you sure that our u23s are good enough yet as cover/competition as I haven't seen too many of them playing on a REGULAR basis.

I'd love the likes of Drameh, Cresswell, Strujik, Hjelde, Bate, Summerville, Geldhart and Greenwood all STARTING sprinkled with some of the squad now and a couple of star signings....

Are you also saying that because a team get relegated that no other Premier team should touch their players? How does that theory stand up if we got relegated with Raphinha.... total bunkum as usual and I'm glad to see that you started drinking at lunchtime today 🤣😉🍻

And you also mentioned that Normman played in a crap Norway side who finished 3rd in their group.... are you saying that Haaland is crap then? 😜

I remember you agreed with me in a post about 8yrs ago and thought that was the start of a beautiful friendship.... we're back to square one now

Normman

On loan from the Russian side Rostov jezz TC do you want us to be really alienated altogether???

Seriously tho at 25 we should be looking elsewhere, part of the Norway side that came third in their WC group (behind) turkey and involved with an all but in name relegated Norwich side. If the guy had real quality he hasn't proved it. So why would we take a relegated player into TA/ER? What message are we sending our U23's by bringing in a player of subjective quality and not trusting those lads that have played their hearts out all year?

Its a no from the WEST of IRELAND

On one of the crap Leeds News Now sites we're linked to Normman of Norwich.... he's a player I've loved, albeit sporadically, and we'd get him at a VERY reasonable price when Norwich are relegated as he's only on loan.

I'm sure he came on very early against us in the away game and was excellent which drew my attention to him.... maybe wrong and it could have been another game.

It'd mean slowing the progress of Bate etc and maybe even having to sell Forshaw.... I'd still prefer Koopermeiners though at 15m but Normman would be a cheap proven option as cover/competition.

I saw a post saying spurs looking at Harrison

It's as if I already knew we'd get the USA in the world cup...

We could have the top USA players warming up for that tournament at Elland Road....

Hmm - good update Smurf.

That would make £29M plus Dest (16.2M) = £45.2M

Dots could be joined there...

Also more news regarding Aaronson who looks a step closer to signing, just need to confirm survival apparently.

IF these deals were to come to pass that would leave us with the best US manager and the best young US players (outside of Pulisic) and of course US owners.....

Some updates on transfermarket.com

Raphinha now valued at £40.5m

Phillips now valued at £45m

Struijk now valued at £13.5m

Gephardt now valued at £4.5m

FYI Sergio Dest is valued at £16.2m

The one area we don't need to improve is CB, which is why the clickbait stories suggesting a swap deal of Raphinha for Mingueza are just fantasy. As for replacing Raphinha, I would have thought James and Harrison will become the first choice wingers with Smalltown Boy as first change, maybe buy an up and coming 21 year old winger in reserve. It's central attacking midfield which has to be too priority.

Why do we need a CB when we have 6 decent options?

Maybe a LB and a striker + No.10, No 8 and No6. Jimmy will come good so no need to replace Rafa IF he goes.

Tin hat time again....

If Rapha goes, which we obviously don't want but is inevitable, should we get Trincau from Wolves, who is on loan from Barca, as part of the deal?

He was outstanding against us when he came on a few weeks ago but is apparently inconsistent.... I personally don't know enough about him.

If we get 50m for Raph, pay 20m for Trincau, 30m for Aaronson and Summerville turns into a wifebeater we'll have 3 players in exchange for Raphinha.... that's without spending any other dosh on different positions.

Add 30m for Ivan Toney, get Drameh back, pay 15m for one of these LBs that are potentially brilliant, 15m for some French African CB that nobody has heard of and we've only spent circa 60m....and that's without getting rid of the deadwood.

reports today in bbc gossip that we have put a 67 million price tag on Rafa.Barca are willing to offer half that.

I agree that some of the valuations are a bit skewed. I would expect £40m would seal a transfer deal. But none of us really know what’s happening behind the scenes.

I wouldn't want LUFC to stand in the way of any player moving up the ladder in his playing career and certainly not against a player that has made a real difference to our first team.

I've no uncertainty in my mind whether or not Rapha will play as best he can in any of the last 8 games in our season. A relegated Rapha, for the player, may even sow a seed of doubt in the likes of Barca "is this guy really good enough for us"? Rapha will want to do well in our remaining games for two reasons

1) Will want to keep his international profile high over in Brazil especially as a WC starts in 7 months time.

2) Will want to show any prospective buyer he is worth £250k / week wages along with a +50m transfer price tag. And should Barca not agree Rapha / agent can go to Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern let alone the possibility of any of the English Clubs, Newcastle included. Newcastle will want to make at least one 5 star signing in the January window after the WC and if Rapha plays well and should Brazil win it outright then thats the jackpot for us.

I love rapha and yes he deserves to play in the CL and i honestly hope he can play in it, but "if" we can hold out until the transfer window in Jan 2023 that for me is the most economical advantageous time for LUFC to sell this wonderful player, IF HE REALLY WANTS TO LEAVE.

All above said i do hope it isnt the daily talk of the dressing room at ER as others may want / feel they are CL quality too, that type of talk around the place eventually lead to fractiousness and resentment. I do hope we handle this well, as a Club, and we must remember this is new to our owners too, Rapha potentially will be our first big transfer out of the Club since we returned to the PL and as soopa has said other agents and other players will be watching to see how LUFC conduct business.

But one step at a time secure PL survival first and foremost with Rapha playing the key role now that it looks like Paddy is gone for the rest of the season.

Maybe a reality check folks?

There's a difference between what we think a player is worth now or in the future vs what somebody will pay. This isn't a computer game and the payer can refuse to go to a specific club even if we do get a super bid.

"Technically" we can ask for what we want because we have his registration, but there's no guarantee we wont see Rapha's form drop off if we refuse him a dream move. He could sulk until he's available on a free (like Bale) and although we'd hope not, he has been indifferent in the last 3 months compared to last year (maybe since he got his Brazil cap).

What did we promise Rapha when we signed him? Not the black and white of a contract but the personal relationship? We don't know what personal assurances Deco and Rapha got in order to get him to us in the first place.

Players and Agents are not robots - there are lots of them out there and they talk to each other.

Playing hardball on one player's future has knock on effects on the club's business reputation - it becomes much harder to be taken seriously when we look for the next signing. Part of our business model (clearly spelt out recently) is to bring on younger talent and sell one or two a year if we want to build up a war chest. Once you mess one guy about then others take notice.

There is a food chain whether we like it or not. We trumped Rennes and took him for a bargain fee of £17M, now a Euro giant will take him from us.

Conclusion: Rapha wants to go - he deserves to go to a top club - so we have to play ball with him and behave in good faith. That may mean we don't get the dream transfer fee.

In the future we all hope Leeds will be much closer to the top of the food chain, but it'll take time, patience and a great deal of money - at least we have come along in leaps and bounds since 2018.

Rafa may only get Euro League football at Barca next season.

Deco, as Barca's South American talent scout, may have ulterior motives to move him there.

I can see why Spain appeals to him.

I agree with Smurf, Rafa has too much dignity to give in now and not try 100%. Who made the winning goal v Norwich with a lung busting run?

I have enjoyed Rafa for 2 seasons now and been amazed. I do not begrudge him a big move. Perhaps Bayern or Real are better for him at this moment.

We will not be in the Champions League next season and we cannot afford to pay him £250k+ per week take home. Lets just take £62million+ and find another hero.

Ok, I get that there's been an escalation in stories around Raphinha, but most of those stories are coming from European sources. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not anti Europe but the clickbait reporting in Europe is even worse than it is here in the UK. I do though accept that other clubs are positioning themselves, that there are still doubts that we might get relegated and that Deco is looking to broker a new deal, but I don't believe it's inevitable. Leeds still have the upper hand, we still decide when to sell him, and as others have said, we can do that after the World Cup when his value has risen. I certainly don't believe any transfer figure has been proposed and if or when there is a tug of war battle, then we should be playing hardball. I also believe Raphinha is a complete professional and that he will be concentrating on the remaining games of the season at Leeds. I also believe we still have plenty of reasons on offer that would lead to the player remaining at Elland Road. I am as indefatigably optimistic as I am unflinchably cynical.

I cannot believe that we would even contemplate selling Raph for anything less than £70m...And that would be fantastic business for the purchasing club!

Real Madrid apparently want Kieran Tierney for circa 50m....surely a matchwinner like Raphinha should cost 10/20m more!?

If we could get Aaronson for less than 30m and he keeps improving then it could be a great deal....especially if we start giving Summerville game time and his potential turns positive for us.

It'd be a win/win situation....

Whilst Aronson does seem to have potential he is nowhere near the skill set of Raph.... so if we sell Raph to Barcelona for peanuts and only buy Aronson in the summer... it will be a step backwards imo... and I agree,we need to keep hold of Raph until after the world cup... I am 99.9 % sure that he will have a great world cup and at least double his value... it's funny really when you think about it... we potentially have the best player in the world in our hands and clubs have the cheek to try buy him for less than £30m when it is highly likely that he will probably fetch them over £100m in a couple of seasons time..... 🤔

I can't believe that we would sell Raffa for about 40m. After the World Cup then sell for the going rate, yes! His price then however, could easily be double, but to let him go in a couple of months time is crazy economics. However VO is so skilled in wasting money, that nothing at LU would surprise me.

The football world is running out of stars as Ronaldo and Messi play out their twilight years. Raphinha could well be one to fill the void, especially after a successful WC. The clamour for him could be immense, and the price staggeringly high!

I suppose it all depends on just how desparate Radz is for cash, as he always seem so 'hand to mouth', clinging to his 56%.

Id like to do that too stuoldroyd but unfortunately that aint how things work.

I personally wouldnt like to sell rapha to any other english PL team as we know he would probably score a bloody hattrick against us, but i agree we cant be seen to steam-rolled by a bigger Club.

Its bloody laughable tho that a Club like Barcelona, one of the so called European Super League Clubs, cant afford the 50m minimium price tag, i wonder were they going to travel to the ESL games by dinghy????

Like most people,I'm already resigned to the fact that Raph is leaving.... but for once we need to stop rolling over for other clubs,agents and players who want to leave for a big pay day... and demand that we get a good price 👍👍

I would not accept anything less than £40m for Raph and if Barca want him that bad but can't afford it then we take control of the situation and use it to our advantage,and tell them to stuff Aston Villa give us Coutinho + cash.... a defender + cash is no good to us we need to replace him with a like for like player.... And if they don't like that idea we say 'walk on' and sell him to Liverpool or who ever else is willing to pay big bucks 👍

Good post Smurf, sound reasoning but i would like to see an addition up top.

If Burnley go down i would love it if Weghorst came to Leeds, the amount of possession we have on the majority of the teams in the PL and the amount of ball we send into the box would suit a natural goalscorer no end.

We missed a trick in not signing Mitrovic and i'm a firm believer that Weghorst can be just as prolific in front of goal as AM.

I'll be honest i don't know too much about Aaranson other than whats youtube clips but jezz anyone can look good in clips an agent put together themselves. I think a proven PL quality like ward-prowse at Southampton would be a great addition, wouldn't cost an arm and a leg but with his undoubted free-taking ability and work-rate in the middle of the park i think signing him would be less of a gamble imho. ok JW-P would be about 30m and Aaranson id say is around 25m so for an extra 5m wouldnt it be better to buy someone that already knows the PL??

One of those two midfielders + Weghorst is 50m and those two signings would be a real addition to the squad and if rapha is sold are LUFC really out of pocket?

I agree Soopa, there is far too much noise around this for it not to be taken seriously. I would be amazed if the deal is priced at £29million, whilst we may not acheive the buyout clause payment of £60million, I would hope therefore that it's somewhere north of £40million. Barca will also keen on sweetening the deal by offloading a centre half to us. I'm pretty sure that we have that area well covered, so not sure that will fly.

I just hope that Rapha is back to his best for the remaining 8 games and gets us over the line. I think he owes us that much!.

Sorry Smurf - I know you won't believe anything on "clickbait" sites, but more and more updates today - including the top line on the BBC gossip column - Victor Orta has now met with Deco - Leeds accept he won't sign a deal with us and he's leaving - allegedly Leeds have now agreed a fee with Barca.

No smoke without fire - I know the same happened when Bielsa left. This is for real folks - even if the destination changes late on Rapha is going.

Interesting post Smurf.

IMO we definitely need a decent LB, an attacking midfielder and ideally someone like Toney - with Bamford missing so much of the season, for whatever reason no one has stepped up to adequately replace him.

Three genuine quality signings and progression of U23 players should give us a strong team/squad. (assuming we don't lose Phillips or Raphinha, who would need replacing).

Smurf, very good analysis imo. I like the idea of Drameh at left back - problem (maybe) solved! On Bogusz, since the Australian tour at least, I saw signs that he could be a real star as our box-to-box midfielder as replacement for Klich (who rates Bogusz), and we should want him back, by now. Aronsson as a high-pressing and goal-scoring midfielder could be a really good and needed acquisition. Thinking of all our other talented wingers, we might be better off, all in all, by selling Raphinha to finance Aronsson, and then using whatever‘s left over to keep Phillips.

Not sure about Firpo. For some players, it's not until the second season that they shine. Think Chris Wood, Kemar Roofe, Matheuz, Klich etc. Personally, I'm a great believer in second chances and would be willing to give Firpo the benefit of the doubt for a second year. Seeing as we have put in place another coaching team that specialises in improving players, I'm reluctant to write off players before the seasons end.

Strikers are expensive and goalscoring strikers are prohibitively expensive. There's little point buying somebody who is second tier when we already have Bamford and our current manager seems to trust Rodrigo. Orta has made the right call to invest in youth and any new forward would block the development for Gelhardt & Greenwood, not to mention Mateo Joseph Fernandez and Max Dean. And Kun is still in our books, I always thought he had what it takes to play the role of a deep playmaking forward - and that's well worth considering looking at in pre season. I'd definitely like to see both G men given the chance to live up to their potential over the remaining games of this season. I wouldn't buy a striker.

If we retain Raphinha, we don't need any new wingers, especially as Summerville needs game time and is too good a talent to let go. Raphinha, James and Harrison can also play the role of second striker when required.

We definitely don't need CBs, in fact we probably need to offload one. And if I were to pick one - Koch is the one who imho hasn't anywhere near justified his transfer fee. He's also one we could get some return on our outlay. Llorente hasn't looked good recently, but he plays well alongside the more authoritative Cooper. And we really need to give Cresswell game time.

We don't need a right back, no matter what Phil Hay says. Ayling is both a leader and still bombs down the flank. And in Drameh, we have a class act who will definitely play for England. And he can play LB too!

I certainly wouldn't disturb the keeper position either. In Meslier and Klaesson, we have two awesome prospects who should be competing with one another for years to come. And in Marcus Abad, we have a great goalkeeping coach. Orta has got this one bang on right. And Christy and Ombang don't look bad either.

That leaves midfield. We all want to keep Phillips and Forshaw has been a revelation since his return from injury - who wouldn't begrudge him an extension. Shackleton is too good to be overlooked and offers more cover at RB. I would be very interested in welcoming Bogusz back in place of Klich. We do though need that creative attacking midfielder, which increasingly looks like being Aaranson.

The biggest issue this season is not just the injuries, but it's been injuries to all the leadership players. Cooper's influence is immeasurable, he leads the team, he makes us tick. Phillips is the engine of the midfield and Bamford is the ultimate team player.

So, in summary, I wouldn't be unhappy with a squad next year that looks something like this. There's a few old heads, some players at the top of their game, and plenty of youth. If we invest the transfer kitty in improved contracts for our most 'in demand' players, I 'd say they would be happy to stay. I'd back this squad to get better and better.

Meslier/Klaesson

Ayling/Drameh

Llorente/Cresswell

Cooper/StruiJk/Hjelde

Firpo [or new LB, Sergio Gomes from Anderlecht anybody?]/Dallas

Phillips/Forshaw/Bate

Aaranson/Shackleton/Bogusz

Raphinha/Summerville

Rodrigo/Greenwood

Bamford/Gephardt

James/Harrison

I know I'm probably alone in this kind of thinking, but we will never compete with richer clubs in the transfer market. In the long run, we are better off being smart - bringing in coaches who can improve players, sticking with VO's plan to identify, develop and nurture the best young players available. That's the Anderlecht way, that's the Dutch way. And you know what, I don't mind doing things differently to other premiership clubs!

Firpo not good enough. Love to get Toney,

Some players will probably be more comfortable and play better in the zonal system. I think Koch will come good.

true Danish and i would argue we need a striker also.

This season was always going to be hard on Bamford to replicate never mind surpass his first season in the PL. Sadly injury has set him back, and who knows maybe he will never get back 100% the way he was, please God that wont happen, but unfortunately that's exactly what does happen to so many injured players.

A genuine goalscorer that can rattle in 15-20 goals a season is it in itself almost secures mid-table status, add goals then from midfield and CB's headers from set pieces now you are looking at inside top 10.

For me the difference between Clubs surviving and thriving is the quality up top.

The difference between teams challenging for titles isn't in attack but at the back and the number of clean sheets a team keeps by and large

Our situation is the same as a little less than a year ago: we still need a proper left back and a creative midfielder (no. 10).

Exactly Bull.

We're not out of the woods yet.

Still feel Raphina will go, but if he leaves it should be our terms.

Aanything less than 40M for him would be a steal.

In itself that's another reason why it's vital that we stay up.

Do feel that in the next window we'll see a lot of movement.

Can't see the board making the same mistakes again.

Last summer we only added Firpo & Klaesson and signed Harrison on a perm. Out went Bera, Pablo, Alioski and we loaned out Casilla, Costa & Poveda.

So, neither the team nor squad we're improved.

And boy has that been shown to be true over the season.

Furthermore, do we seriously believe the likes of Philips will even consider staying if we again fail to show ambition.

The gaps that were present before the season started have not disappeared.

We've got talented youngsters, ready to play their part but be realistic, they're not proven premiership quality players, just yet.

But first things first, the little matter of securing our stay in the Premiership!

Still think with the WC only 7 months away now "if" Leeds hold onto Rapha during the summer his value will increase "if" he plays well and will most definitely rise in value should he help Brazil win the Jules Rimet.

Missing our last game against Wolves last Friday night was a pity because he certainly played well against Norwich so maybe JM has buttered him up a bit and the recent change in manager will be a positive in Rapha's mindset.

First and foremost need Rapha firing on all cylinders for the last 8 games and "if" he wants to go he will need to show others that he is player that can improve any Club so for now if JM can focus his mind for the last 2 months of the season he can tell Rapha to go out on the pitch and show everyone watching that you are no ordinary footballer, no better way in my experience to help any young player to deliver. Actions speak louder than words and Rapha's actions on the pitch will show his proper value more so than his agent sitting in some boardroom dishing out stats, and talking a good show.

LUFC priority is survival and Rapha is one of key players that we need to perform for us right now. He performs well our results / points should improve and his performances can be properly assessed by other Clubs.

But i think at minimum we need at least 2/3 new signings in the summer to help the Club to climb up the PL ladder and if Rapha goes make that 4 new players that will be needed in the Summer.

I can't see any club paying over £40m for Raphinha. Not Liverpool, not Barcelona, not PSG. Too many of you are buying into the BS on the clickbait sites. His agent is no doubt trying to get a better deal, fair enough, but that doesn't make him a £60m player. Transfermarket.co values him at £36m and that's probably about right. In fact given the current state of 'big finance', clubs are going to have to live within their means, so I expect to see a lot less multi million pound transfers. Anyway, I've seen as many stories suggesting he's poised to extend his existing contract and that's what we should be wanting out club to do.

We aren't going to be all that active in the transfer market. The club has recruited a manager renowned for developing youth players. The manager has recruited as an assistant, somebody who made his name managing Swansea's u23 side, and has also promoted the Leeds u23 manager as assistant. Add in VO's masterplan and it's clear to see the strategy will be to promote the youngsters. Don't be surprised if Aaranson is the sole big name signing.

I think one of the clubs chasing Rapha will stump up the £60million valuation by Leeds, so he will be off in the summer, sad to see him go but life goes on. News feed suggests that we may be going back in for Ryan Kent at Rangers who has a release clause of £20million, presumably to cover Rapha's departure. Kalvin may stick around for another year, however if we are going for a rebuild, then the combined transfer fees for both of these would give a decent war chest for JM to use.

We have to keep young Meslier. He will only get better and we need a confident keeper between the sticks.

I definately would not sell Strujik, yes he does have the odd moment, but he will develop into a very good player. I agree that Klich will go in the summer, but would hang onto Forshaw for perhaps another year. Don't know about Koch or Llorente, maybe they will flourish under a new playing system with JM.

Given all the noise, it seems pretty nailed on that Aarondson will be here. oIf he is as good as the papers say then he should fit in.

Rodrigo - Well this chaps continues to be an enigma. Everytime I completely slag him off, he comes back with half a decent performance. Again, will this be a player who will perform better in a different system? Maybe hand onto until January and see what happens.

I don't think we need wholesale changes, just a bit more luck with injuries!

I wouldnt sell Pascal TC10 decent player but just needs a more reliable CB beside him as id say playing with llorente is a bloody nightmare.

priorities for me is

Striker & Playmaker without these we will never break into the top 6 hence never see European football baring an FA Cup win.

I agree we need to strengthen midfield but we must still remember that we have only come out of the championship after a massive spell away from the top table so bridging the gap between lower half of the PL and mid-table could be a 3-5 year term alone, possibly another 2-3 years to be really pressing the top 6, with another 2-3 years solid investment the holy grail of a CL spot. Sadly tho a Newcastle situation, after being taken over by a gazzillionaire, could add another couple of years onto that, simply down to MONEY, not ability or player development, they will buy success on a scale nobody will ever have seen in World Football of that i'm certain.

Effectively now Manure, City, Chelski, Liverpool & now Newcastle (5 teams) fighting it out for 4 coveted CL places, something has to give and the only solution these owners will understand will be pump more money into their squads making it even harder for Clubs like leeds to break through.

Its a long road but most fans are reasonable and as long as the players give 100% for the jersey that's all we ask. We've gotten that for the last 4 years under Marcelo's guidance and it does look like the players have taken to Jesse so i'm hopeful we can progress steadily however number one priority for this season and next will be to maintain PL football at ER

Hmmm - it's a fun thought. Let's have a guess......

Meslier may or may not be with us next season - we're looking at goalies again, so chance a big fish is watching him.

Rapha won't be with us

Kalvin WILL

Assuming we survive we buy a goalie IF needed, a young LB like Hickey from Bologna, Aarondson and one other slightly more surprising player - my guess would be Minamino.

You reckon we sell Llorente, Koch, Strujik, Firpo, Klich, Forshaw, Rodrigo.... ?

I reckon we'll keep all apart from Klich and Rodrigo:

Rodrigo - although that's not a given seeing as he's now in the leadership group and playing much better under new management, but wants to go home.

Klich - we'll let go on a free if his number is up.

U23 permanent promotions Drameh, Gelhardt, Greenwood, Bate, Summerville

First team + spare next season:

Meslier/New

Klaesson

Ayling Llorente Struijk New

Drameh Cresswell Cooper Firpo

Phillips Forshaw

Koch Bate

James Aarondson Harrison

Summerville Greenwood New (Minamino?)

Bamford

Gelhardt

** with Dallas as a Paul Madeley, playing every game in a different position.

Financials:

£55M received for Rapha and Rodrigo

£50M spent on Aarondson, New LB and Minamino

Balance used to pay 1st instalment of JKA.

I have liked these players on and off all season but have now seen they are too inconsistent.... we'd get circa 60m for the following.

Llorente, Koch, Strujik, Firpo, Klich, Forshaw, Rodrigo....

I'd bring back Drameh, buy Christensen on a free from Chelscum, young LB Ramsey from Scotland 12m, Koopmeiners 20m, Aaronson 25m, Ivan Toney 35m.... these are realistic buys and only spending circa 40m after our outgoing sales.

Add Klaesen, Ayling, Cresswell, Hjelde, Bate, Dallas, Harrison, James, Bamford, Geldhart, Greenwood and a sprinkling of youngsters to make up a squad of 25....

A first team starting X1 of :

Meslier

Drameh CHRISTIANSEN Coops RAMSEY

Kalvin KOOPMEINERS

Summerville AARONSON Raphinha

TONEY

I've only got our brilliant leader Coops in cause I know we'll be playing him whatever!!

This first X1 will see us into Europe and keep progressing slowly but surely.

Hopefully we can somehow keep Raphinha and Kalvin....

I know I won't get many replies to this as everyone will agree on my new signings all for the spine of the team....

You can thank me later when Marsche reads this post and does what I say....

We have loads of U23s ready to break through - Drameh, Cresswell, Bate, Jimmy, Greenwood, Joffy and should not let their paths be blocked.

Maybe a LB, definitely a DCM, a No.10, a No.9