Leeds United will be braced for a busy summer as they come to terms with the loss of their Premier League status. There’s a takeover to resolve and a head coach and director of football to appoint before focus can well and truly turn to transfers, but it’s fair to expect an overhaul of personnel on the pitch.
The Whites can expect high profile players to leave, but they’ll hope to keep hold of key men within their squad as they look to win promotion from the Championship at first time of asking. With that in mind, Leeds Live take a look at club’s state of play when it comes to its current crop of attackers.
Expected to stay
Patrick Bamford, Joe Gelhardt
Bamford may have come in for criticism for his performances at the backend of Leeds’ Premier League campaign, but it seems likely that he will be sticking around to help the club back to the top flight. The striker is a leader within the camp and if he can rediscover his best form and find some consistency, he can be a real threat for the Whites.
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His injury record has been a source of frustration in recent times, but Leeds will be hoping a rest over the summer and a strong pre-season can help him hit the ground running in the second tier, a division he knows very well, of course. Gelhardt has spent time getting to grips with the Championship this season whilst on loan at Sunderland and he can expect to see plenty of minutes next time around.
The 21-year-old struggled to produce his best on a regular basis at the Stadium of Light, but the three goals and three assists he managed helped the Black Cats into the Championship play-offs and that’s something he will be keen to build on back at his parent club.
Expected to go
Rodrigo, Wilfried Gnonto
The rumour mill is already in full swing, it seems, with the above pair being linked away consistently since Leeds saw their relegation confirmed at the end of May. According to reports in Spain, Rodrigo is being considered by Real Madrid after finishing the season as the Whites’ top scorer.
Such form was enough to see him recalled to the Spain squad and with a reported relegation release clause of €3.5m, it seems unlikely that Rodrigo will be playing second tier football next season. Gnonto has also been linked away with Manchester City, Arsenal and Juventus said to be monitoring his situation at Elland Road.
The Italy international established himself as one of the hottest young prospects in the Premier League this season, despite struggling for minutes under Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce. Leeds would no doubt love to keep the forward for next season, but they might find that hard should approaches be made.
Uncertain
Tyler Roberts, Georginio Rutter
Rutter’s next step is very much up in the air after a less-than-successful first few months with the Whites in West Yorkshire. Leeds broke their transfer record to get him over the line in the January window, but he struggled to make an impact in his 11 Premier League appearances.
Whether Leeds see him as a part of their plans for the new season remains unclear at this stage. If the Frenchman is to stick around, he will be expected to play an important role but it probably wouldn’t come as a surprise to supporters if it emerged that a loan switch was also being considered. Roberts has just been on loan, of course, spending the season with Championship strugglers QPR.
However, it remains to be seen if he will have a role to play in West Yorkshire next season.
Pushing to emerge
Mateo Joseph, Sonny Perkins
There’s no doubt about it, both Joseph and Perkins will have aspirations of breaking into the first-team picture this season. The pair scored 29 goals between them for the U21s this season and their goals were decisive as the Whites won promotion back to the top flight of English youth football.
Joseph, who skippered the U21s for much of the season, earned himself three Premier League outings over the course of the campaign and he’ll be determined to pick up more senior experience next time around. Perkins is still waiting to make his league debut for the Whites but he did manage to score the equaliser in the FA Cup third round clash at Cardiff City back in January.
It seems likely that the former West Ham United man will be given more chances in the Championship and he’ll be striving to grasp them with both hands.
