A round-up of your Leeds United morning headlines on Sunday, 3 April.
How the Premier League relegation picture looks after Leeds United's draw with Southampton
Leeds United look almost safe from relegation after a three match run of form bettered only by Liverpool. The run started with wins over Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and a seventh point came in the 1-1 draw with Southampton at Elland Road today. Only Liverpool have bettered that run, while Manchester City are the only team that matched it.
Elsewhere in the Premier League today, Burnley lost 2-0 to Manchester City and Watford lost 2-0 to Liverpool, helping Leeds to safety. Tomorrow Everton are away at West Ham and Newcastle are away at Spurs. The gap between Leeds and third-bottom Watford is now eight points, though Watford have a game in hand. The two will meet in a vital clash at Vicarage Road next Saturday.
Posing little threat of catching Leeds are Norwich City in bottom place, 12 points behind the Whites. Above Norwich are Burnley on 21 points, one behind Watford and nine behind Leeds, but with three games in hand over Leeds.
Jesse Marsch hints at his strongest Leeds United line-up with repeated Joe Gelhardt frustration
Leeds United supporters have seen an increase in the amount of time Joe Gelhardt has seen on the pitch since Jesse Marsch's arrival at the end of February. That said, there is still a clamour for the teenage forward to start matches in the Premier League, which Gelhardt is yet to do under the American coach.
Marsch admitted that Gelhardt had been in contention to start versus Wolverhampton Wanderers prior to the international break, but a back injury picked up in the days leading up to the 3-2 win at Molineux meant he was forced to sit out training. Having also stayed at Thorp Arch instead of travelling with England's U21 side during the last week of March, it was assumed that Gelhardt would be a shoe-in to start against Southampton, given Marsch's comments on the player.
"He has to play, young players have to play in order to improve and he has the quality to do so. So I'm not so concerned about it. I believe in him entirely. And I know he's going to get better and better," Marsch said in his pre-match press conference. However, when the team was announced, Gelhardt once again took his place on the substitutes' bench.
Leeds United transfer rumours as 'swap deal linked player snubs Elland Road'
It emerged last week that part of Barcelona's plan to agree a deal with Leeds United for Raphinha involves the idea of offering the Whites a player in part-exchange. That's due to the fact that the two clubs differ in terms of what the cost of the player should be, so the Catalan club are said to see offering a player as part of the package as a good way to get Leeds to agree a lower fee than they would like.
However, according to reports in Spain, all three of the players mentioned - Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest and Clement Lenglet - have made it known that they would not be interested in being involved in any proposed swap.
Barcelona are said to want to start the bidding at £35million, which is significantly lower than the Whites' valuation of their star winger.
Blunt Leeds United bailed out by credit in the bank while nagging Joe Gelhardt streak goes on
Joe Gelhardt has been stuck on two Leeds United starts for what feels like an eternity. No matter how much he has impressed from the bench, week after week, there always seems to be something getting between him and the starting line-up.
Marcelo Bielsa was never one for banging the Gelhardt drum too loudly. The Argentine was always happy to acknowledge the teenager’s quality, but stopped short of amplifying his role or importance with words, for fear of building that pressure on young shoulders.
If the starts under Bielsa were through necessity and injuries to others, Jesse Marsch, for all of his effusive praise for how important Gelhardt is to this team, is yet to give him any starts and the bafflement continued at 2pm on Saturday. After the late winner against Norwich City, Gelhardt was in line to start the Wolverhampton Wanderers match, but a back spasm spoiled his week of training ahead of that game.
