Transfers may have been dealt with until January at Leeds United, but work continues on sculpting this squad for its next phase. While external targets can be put on the back burner for a little while, Victor Orta must set about securing the futures of the existing squad.
We are now within two years of a whole raft of contracts expiring at Elland Road and, traditionally, clubs like to ensure nobody they are interested in keeping enters the final year of their deal. With a number of players entering their 30s, it’s an intriguing time as Orta plots the transition of this squad.
The immediate case for attention is Luke Ayling, whose current deal expires next summer, barring any hidden extension clauses. Now 31, Ayling showed from the bench on Saturday what he can bring to the team, but Jesse Marsch will want to see more across several months rather than a 21-minute cameo.
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With Rasmus Kristensen and Cody Drameh waiting in the wings, a new deal for the right-back is not a foregone conclusion. Ayling will have to prove he can keep pace with the league to warrant a new deal which would take him to 33 or 34-years-old.
Joel Robles has only just signed his one-year deal, so a decision will surely be taken on him when the club takes stock next May. United have a 12-month option on Adam Forshaw’s contract, which also expires next summer, so if he impresses this season they will be able to kick the can down the road for a few months longer.
That is the only trio with deals expiring next summer. There are nine players with 2024 end dates and they all require some strategy or consideration.
Captain Liam Cooper was one of the better performers down the run-in last season, but has not begun this campaign the way he would have wanted. Unless the wheels come off between now and the World Cup break, the 31-year-old has the status and quality to warrant a deal that may take him close to retirement.
Stuart Dallas will, of course, be given all the time he needs to recover from the savage leg break of last season. Assuming he starts playing again in 2023, he has enough credit in the bank to warrant a new deal.
Much in the way Forshaw was given time, a decision on Dallas could even go on into late 2023 in order to give him space to prove he can make it back to his previous level. Mateusz Klich, another of the senior pros who arrived in the EFL days, seems unlikely to sign a new deal at this stage.
Given how close he came to leaving in the summer transfer window and which way his playing time is surely set to go, Klich’s future is very much up in the air across the coming transfer windows. Pascal Struijk also arrived at Thorp Arch during the Championship era, but he has blossomed into one of the biggest assets at the club.
Still only 23 and now being named in provisional Netherlands squads, Struijk is surely set for a massive pay hike from United and sooner rather than later with a World Cup on the horizon. An asset Leeds have to protect.
Jack Harrison is already the subject of external transfer bids and after rebuffing that interest, a new contract seems a formality. The winger’s 25, on the verge of his peak years and in the media’s England conversation.
Drameh missed out on the raft of extensions handed out to peers Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Crysencio Summerville, so he is one of the youngsters in need of new terms. That Cardiff City loan put the right-back high on shortlists throughout the Championship and poachers will look to take advantage of his contract situation if it’s not resolved.
Orta may wait to see how Drameh and Ayling’s seasons unfold before making a call on either. Like Klich, Rodrigo is another whose future seems uncertain.
The Spain international has endured an inconsistent two years and will be 33 by the time his contract expires. Much seems to rest on how he recovers before the World Cup and then how he sees out the second half of this campaign.
Even if he continues scoring at the rate he began this season, he may wish to see out the latter years of his career in Spain. New terms in the near future seem unlikely as both parties weigh up their next steps, while Robin Koch seems closer to Struijk’s situation.
The 26-year-old Germany international has started this season promisingly and as Cooper edges into his latter years, Koch could be someone Orta builds the next defence around. Do not be surprised if Koch is alongside Harrison and Struijk at the top of Orta’s to-do list.
Diego Llorente seems to be closer to Rodrigo’s position. The centre-back is two years younger than the striker, but his form remains inconsistent.
If Cooper, Koch and Struijk all strengthen their holds on starting slots while signing new deals, Llorente may well look to return to Spain for more minutes next summer. Another which Orta may choose to wait on before jumping into fresh contract negotiations.
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