Leeds retained list reveals Premier League plans at club

National World - LocalTV

Daniel Wales and Lee Sobot analyse Leeds United’s retained list, looking at who is staying and leaving the club.

Transcript

00:00With Leeds United having been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League several weeks ago now,

00:05things at Ellen Road are relatively quiet, but the club is still going about its business,

00:10preparing for life in the Premier League once again.

00:14But what will that look like and who will that be with in terms of their squads?

00:19Leeds United recently released their retained list, which includes the players that will be remaining at the club

00:24and those who will be moving on and no longer a part of Leeds United's future going forward.

00:31To discuss this, let's go now to Lee Sobert, reporter from the Yorkshire Evening Post who covers Leeds United.

00:37So, Lee, my question is, firstly, who is staying at the club, who's moving on,

00:43and of course, who is going back to their parent clubs if they've been on loan as well,

00:48and are they perhaps likely to remain or come back, I should say, to the club

00:52if Leeds are able to strike a deal with their parent club?

00:55And what does all this say about the future of Leeds United in the upcoming season?

01:00Because, of course, if we look at the squad, we get sort of an indication as to who is in Daniel Farker's plans,

01:07at least for now.

01:08Obviously, the transfer window opens.

01:10It may be the case where some of those who have been retained may still be moved on if they are signed by other clubs.

01:16But what does that say for now about the club in terms of who is still there

01:20and who's coming back to the club if they've been on loan elsewhere,

01:24and do they have a future at Leeds?

01:25But also about who's leaving as well,

01:28and just in terms of why they're not going to be at the club anymore going forward,

01:33because, of course, the Premier League, as we all know,

01:35is a completely different kettle of fish to playing in the Championship.

01:39So, Lee, give me your thoughts on the matter

01:41and how Leeds will approach the transfer window coming up

01:44by first dissecting the news that is, of course,

01:47Leeds United's retained list being made public in the recent days and weeks.

01:52Yeah, in terms of rubber-stamp news, I suppose that's the main thing of late.

01:55It's a very strange one, really, compared to this time last year.

01:57And obviously, this time last year, we were just getting over the playoff final defeat,

02:02and it's been a few quiet weeks, so to speak,

02:04as well as quiet as it's going to be on the Leeds United front.

02:06But I don't think anybody would be complaining about that this time around

02:10after what we experienced at Wembley.

02:12But, yeah, we've had the retained list coming out.

02:14And, to be honest, I mean, the main take-outs from it, really,

02:18were Sam Byron and Junior Firpo, as the club put in discussions.

02:23So, they're the two, really, where we'll have to sort of wait

02:24and see what happens with those.

02:26I think with Junior Firpo, it obviously just comes down, really,

02:28I think, to what Leeds offer him, what deal they can sort for him,

02:33and also what else he has offered.

02:35Difficult one with Firpo, obviously, because last time in the Premier League,

02:38it didn't really happen for him.

02:39But equally, he did have injuries and a lot of disruptions in that season.

02:42And he's obviously had a fantastic season in the Championship

02:45with a hat full of assists and real attack and input.

02:49Obviously, there'll be question marks about what he can do defensively.

02:51But I think you don't want to disrupt the team too much.

02:55Obviously, you need to build the team, build around the team.

02:57And I think most people would probably want him to stay,

03:00if not as a starting option, then very much as a squad option.

03:02So, we'll wait and see what happens with him.

03:04And the same with Sam Byron, who's always been, you know,

03:06extremely, extremely reliable when he comes in.

03:08Obviously, different one with Byron, because Firpo was first-choice left-back

03:13very much so, whereas Byron, obviously, slots in on either of those

03:16full-back positions.

03:17Obviously, the one real exit was Joshua Ghiavogi.

03:21And I think people will look at that maybe initially and think,

03:23well, he didn't play very much.

03:24But it does feel like quite a big departure, that one,

03:27because there's no doubt about it that even though he only had,

03:29I think it was 57 minutes of Championship football,

03:31there's no doubt you can tell how much of a leader he was

03:35and the influence he had on the group.

03:37You could just tell from the sheer number of messages

03:38that players put out once his departure was confirmed.

03:41I think he's a real experienced head in there at a time

03:44when it's quite a young group.

03:45So, even though he's maybe someone who, like, you know,

03:48might not need replacing as such in terms of the minutes on the pitch,

03:50I think probably it does leave a bit of a void in terms of, like,

03:53the leadership group and stuff.

03:54So, obviously, the players will all be a year older now,

03:57you know, led by Ampadu and whatnot.

03:58So, but that does still feel like a big void, nevertheless,

04:01that obviously will have to be filled to some degree.

04:03And then, obviously, we had the news, as we all knew,

04:06that Solomon and Rothwell, obviously, we hope very much,

04:09I mean, I think fans are liking both back,

04:11but Solomon especially, absolute standout player.

04:13And I suppose we should also say Jack Harrison as well,

04:15which is very much that's one that's happened this week

04:17in terms of him, as it stands, returning from Everton to Leeds.

04:21And, you know, I think it's difficult to imagine a way back for him.

04:24But, I mean, you sort of, I think people probably thought the same

04:27about Brendan Aronson.

04:28So, that's very much one to watch as well.

04:30So, yeah, bits and bobs happening, obviously,

04:32as we'll come to pre-season friendly, starting to get arranged.

04:35And, as is always the case of any club, not a day goes by

04:39where Leeds aren't linked with one or two,

04:41or not one or two, several players.

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