Transfer News

Scoring goals wasn’t Leeds’ issue last year (they put in 95). Conceding goals wasn’t exactly a weak spot either, their total of 30 was the second lowest in the Championship. But the Premier League is a wholly different beast. They can expect to score less and concede more, and to this end, much of their transfer spend went to shoring up the defense. Financially, they played a frugal game as well, only amassing $91M in total spend.

Newcastle veteran Sean Longstaff was lured away by the promise of regular playing time. His experience will help control and direct the midfield. Two big (size, not spend) center backs come on over: Slovenian Jaka Bijol (Udinese) and Belgian Sebastiaan Bornauw (Wolfsburg). German defensive midfielder Anton Stach will add more height, and Swedish left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson will add some pace up the flank. Brazilian goalkeeper Lucas Perri was plucked from Lyon and is expected to challenge for the starting spot.

Season Outlook

Not pretty, but it never is for the promoted. Leeds have been here before, and on their first trip up relied on a manic, no-holds-barred pressing attack. This campaign looks to be taking a more measured and balanced approach, with an emphasis on defensive solidity. If the pre-season is anything to go by, it’s working. Their three friendlies all ended in draws (a pair of 1 – 1 and a 0 – 0).

Their first five fixtures are broken up with a mid-week EFL Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday. While I’m dour on paper that Leeds will come away with much from this, I’m secretly hoping they prove me wrong.

Key Players

• Forward
  • Top scorer Joël Piroe will get to show the PL his skills. 
  • Patrick Bamford is still on the roster but gets limited playing time. Expect that to continue.
  • A big coup was snatching Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Everton on a free. He’ll be fired up to punish his old club and give them a dose of “I told ya so” in the season opener Monday.
• Midfield
  • In addition to the aforementioned Stach and Longstaff, Leeds still have diminutive but feisty Wilfried Gnonto and USMNT attacking midfielder Brendan Aaronson.
  • Welshman Daniel James was an integral part of last season’s success (12g/9a) and will be dangerous on the right wing.
• Defense
  • Despite all that new defensive blood, last year’s bedrock duo of Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk will continue to start. I’d expect a slow easing of the new backs into the equation.
• Goalkeeper
  • It will be hard to nudge aside Illan Meslier, who had 21 clean sheets last season. But Perri will give it a go. In any event, having someone of his caliber as the back up is a good thing.

Other Bits

Manager Daniel Farke has experience bringing sides up from the Championship. He did so twice with Norwich City between 2017-2021. He’s not great at keeping them up in the Premier League, however, suffering relegation twice with the Canaries in that same period. Leeds supporters are hoping that trend stops this season.

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