Here are your Leeds United evening headlines for Wednesday, October 19.
Marsch labels European Super League as "totally ridiculous"
Leeds boss Jesse Marsch has described the concept of the European Super League as "totally ridiculous" amid reports that it will relaunch within three years.
A22 Sports Management, a company representing the Super League clubs, is planning to revive the competition and has employed German media executive, Bernd Reichart, as its new chief executive.
Reichart told the Financial Times that a launch in 2024-25 was a "reasonable" expectation, and Marsch believes a European Super League will only cause a further imbalance in terms of fair competition.
Read more: Jesse Marsch reveals Junior Firpo excitement as Leeds United boss makes massive call about future
"No one wants a league that's not about earning it and deserving it," Marsch told the media on Tuesday. "And no one wants to see a league that's just giving. I think already in our sport, the world is imbalanced. You can argue clubs like Manchester United and Real Madrid and you can go down the list, that over the years they've built that success and that's helped them accumulate more interest, more value and more riches.
"But I am an American, I come from American sports where parity is the most important thing to us. At the start of the season anyone can win and then I was coach in the Bundesliga where Bayern Munich had made 30.5 times more, or spent 30.5 times as much as Arminia Bielefeld.
"It's a league where you start and you say Bielefeld have zero chance of winning the league, and Bayern Munich have 75% [chance] of winning the league. That's not competition to me and that's what I want to see. I want to see fairness, I want to see people earn whatever they deserve and I think any idea of a Super League is totally ridiculous."
In April 2021, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan joined forces to found the European Super League. The announcement was met by widespread opposition and nine of the founding members, including all six Premier League representatives, promptly withdrew.
Despite its collapse, the competition has continued to operate as a corporate entity backed by three remaining member clubs: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.
Leeds United injury news as Jesse Marsch reveals Pascal Struijk blow
Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch has revealed defender Pascal Struijk will miss the Whites game on Thursday night against Leicester City.
Struijk, who has operated at left-back for the majority of the season for Leeds, has picked up a minor injury that has ruled him out of the game against the Foxes.
It will likely mean Spaniard Junior Firpo, who has rarely featured this season for Leeds due to injury, will start in place of Struijk.
PSV forward Cody Gakpo reveals he nearly joined Leeds United last summer
PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo has revealed he nearly joined Leeds United last summer after his proposed move to Manchester United fell through.
The Dutch international was subject to heavy interest from plenty of clubs across Europe last summer, with Leeds heavily interested in the 23-year-old.
Ultimately, despite the interest, Gakpo opted to stay at PSV this summer, where he has continued to thrive. This season has seen him score 13 goals and register 11 assists in 18 games.
One of the other Premier League sides keen on landing Gakpo from PSV was Manchester United, whose new manager Erik ten Hag saw plenty of the forward last term in the Eredivisie.
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