Within four days of securing 2022’s Premier League survival, Leeds United were announcing the permanent transfer of Brenden Aaronson. The Whites moved quickly to push through a £24.7m deal they had effectively lined up in the previous January.
It was a prime example of forward planning which was good to go as soon as top-flight status was secure. There was little prospect of a change of ownership at the top of the club, director of football Victor Orta, who engineered the deal, remained in place and head coach Jesse Marsch was only just getting started.
It was a club which had come through a traumatic experience and retained all of its key components for a summer of continuity targeted at righting wrongs. Time has since taught us Andrea Radrizzani and his key personnel did not get that summer right, with relegation confirmed one year and two days after the Aaronson announcement.
