Under Daniel Farke, Leeds United is seeking to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking while competing for automatic promotion from the Championship.
It’s their first season in the second division in more than three years, but preparations will already be starting for the following one. Leeds must make decisions about a number of first-team players between now and June, particularly if they get promoted.
While everything is focused on the here and now on the field, off the field preparations will be made with 2024–2025 in mind. Recruiting calls, regardless of league, will also be made.
The club were extremely active in the summer market, and did well in January to move on some of their other fringe players who were hardly featuring, be that on loan or permanently, which will have helped trim the wage bill further.
The Whites will end up bidding farewell to a variety of players come the end of the campaign, given that they have a bloated squad due to the loan clauses that saw many of them leave the club during the summer, and with a number of players also out of contract at Elland Road.
Three departures have already been confirmed, with Luke Ayling bidding farewell when his contract expires, Robin Koch agreeing a pre-contract deal with his current loan club, and Luis Sinisterra agreeing a permanent deal with AFC Bournemouth ahead of the summer.
With promotion in mind, here, we have decided to take a look at all the Leeds players who could command a fee if the club look to willingly cash in for them this summer.
Joe Gelhardt
Gelhardt’s future in West Yorkshire is unclear, with his development stalling over the last couple of seasons. However, there is talent there, and the club could instead seek a loan in order to get his career back on track, with the idea of utilising him in 2025/26 instead.
There could also be a permanent switch, though. It will depend on other options in Leeds’ forward line, as well as conversations between Gelhardt and the club behind the scenes. The 21-year-old has plenty of ability but is at a crossroads and no closer to achieving that early potential with Leeds at present. Regular game time is needed, one way or another.
Charlie Cresswell
Cresswell is in the same position as Gelhardt in many ways, with developmental minutes needed at senior level, as opposed to languishing within Leeds’ reserves or on the fringes of the first-team with very little game time to speak of this term.
He, too, has stalled, and needs to seek a fresh challenge next season, be that on a temporary basis on loan, or on a permanent deal with a new club. Cresswell also has ability but his place is way down the pecking order for Farke’s central defensive options, with Ethan Ampadu’s performances in Pascal Struijk’s absence preferred to either Cresswell or Liam Cooper.
Diego Llorente
Llorente had been a servant for Leeds since 2020, becoming a big-money signing with an estimated fee of £18 million from Real Sociedad, but joined AS Roma last year. During his stint with Leeds, he made 59 appearances in all competitions for the club.
However, after two-and-a-half seasons, midway through last season, it was announced that he would join Roma on loan for the second half of the 2022/23 campaign. Relegation saw another move for Llorente as it was announced in the summer that he would re-join the club, and there is the potential for that to become a permanent deal as well.
Max Wöber
The Austrian defender only joined the Whites in January for a fee of around £10 million from RB Salzburg
, and whilst he couldn’t help keep the West Yorkshire outfit in the Premier League, he was one of few to emerge with any credit after generally impressing during his 19 appearances in all competitions.
However, he has been decent with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga so far, and there is every chance he has suitors in the top-flight this summer, with the Austrian unlikely to become a starter at Elland Road over the likes of Struijk or Ampadu at left-sided centre-back.
Junior Firpo
Firpo’s persistent injury issues have kept him sidelined for the majority of the first half of the campaign, but more recently, he has been a part of matchday squads. The left-back is a high earner at Elland Road and requires good performances to be kept around by Leeds, who could be in the market for an alternative specialist to fill that role.
Leeds may be minded to move him on, even with good recent displays, due to his high wage and also being in the last year of his deal with the club, meaning he could command a small fee. The 27-year-old has looked strong in an attacking sense but would need to up the levels he showed defensively in the Premier League if he is to maintain a spot in Farke’s first-team plans.
Jack Harrison
Harrison’s future with the club looks all but over, after Everton completed the signing of Harrison in the summer on a season-long loan from Leeds, where he has been heavily involved at Goodison Park. If Everton survive and can free up the funds for him, then it’s fairly likely that’s where his future will be.
He’s not the flashiest player but is a consistently reliable output for both goals and assists; although many Leeds fans felt they came in purple patches rather than a steady spread over the course of a season. He went on to make 206 appearances for Leeds in his five-year stint in West Yorkshire, scoring 34 goals and registering a further 32 assists in the process, but appears to have played his last game for the club.
Rasmus Kristensen
Kristensen played 30 games for the Whites last season, scoring three times and registering a solitary assist, too. Leeds paid a reported £10 million to sign the former Red Bull Salzburg full-back, but he left in a loan move to Italian giants, Roma, linking up with Llorente in the process.
The Whites will almost certainly take whatever they can get for Kristensen during the summer, as he has been a largely forgettable signing, and most of the players who received loan moves are unlikely to be involved next season.
Sam Greenwood
According to The Athletic, Middlesbrough have a £1.5 million option to buy with Leeds as part of their loan agreement for Greenwood. They are not guaranteed to activate it, but it is a sign of Leeds’ intent to sell the forward.
He is a pre-peak player still developing, so in that sense, it could be worth a low risk and high reward situation for Boro. However, if they don’t sign Greenwood, someone else in the second tier likely will. His career with Leeds has seen him play 35 games, but the 22-year-old could find a new home in the summer.
Marc Roca
The Spaniard made 32 league appearances for the Whites last season, impressing early on in the season in his partnership with Tyler Adams, but fading when the USMNT captain suffered an injury in February of last year.
It’s almost certain that he will either sign for Real Betis on a permanent deal following his loan, or with another team elsewhere in La Liga, but there is no way back for him in West Yorkshire, that much is for certain. Leeds’ pool of options in the centre of the park is perhaps the strongest area of the squad, too, with Glen Kamara impressing alongside Ilia Gruev or Ampadu for much of the season, as well as the recent emergence of 18-year-old Archie Gray.
