Leeds retained list reveals Premier League plans at club

Local TV Sport

Daniel Wales and Lee Sobot analyse Leeds United’s retained list, looking at who is staying and leaving the club.

Transcript

00:00With Leeds United having been promoted from the Championship to the Premier League several weeks ago now,

00:05things at Ellen Road are relatively quiet, but the club is still going about its business,

00:10preparing for life in the Premier League once again.

00:14But what will that look like and who will that be with in terms of their squads?

00:19Leeds United recently released their retained list, which includes the players that will be remaining at the club

00:24and those who will be moving on and no longer a part of Leeds United's future going forward.

00:31To discuss this, let's go now to Lee Sobert, reporter from the Yorkshire Evening Post who covers Leeds United.

00:37So, Lee, my question is, firstly, who is staying at the club, who's moving on,

00:43and of course, who is going back to their parent clubs if they've been on loan as well,

00:48and are they perhaps likely to remain or come back, I should say, to the club

00:52if Leeds are able to strike a deal with their parent club?

00:55And what does all this say about the future of Leeds United in the upcoming season?

01:00Because, of course, if we look at the squad, we get sort of an indication as to who is in Daniel Farker's plans,

01:07at least for now.

01:08Obviously, the transfer window opens.

01:10It may be the case where some of those who have been retained may still be moved on if they are signed by other clubs.

01:16But what does that say for now about the club in terms of who is still there

01:20and who's coming back to the club if they've been on loan elsewhere,

01:24and do they have a future at Leeds?

01:25But also about who's leaving as well,

01:28and just in terms of why they're not going to be at the club anymore going forward,

01:33because, of course, the Premier League, as we all know,

01:35is a completely different kettle of fish to playing in the Championship.

01:39So, Lee, give me your thoughts on the matter

01:41and how Leeds will approach the transfer window coming up

01:44by first dissecting the news that is, of course,

01:47Leeds United's retained list being made public in the recent days and weeks.

01:52Yeah, in terms of rubber-stamp news, I suppose that's the main thing of late.

01:55It's a very strange one, really, compared to this time last year.

01:57And obviously, this time last year, we were just getting over the playoff final defeat,

02:02and it's been a few quiet weeks, so to speak,

02:04as well as quiet as it's going to be on the Leeds United front.

02:06But I don't think anybody would be complaining about that this time around

02:10after what we experienced at Wembley.

02:12But, yeah, we've had the retained list coming out.

02:14And, to be honest, I mean, the main take-outs from it, really,

02:18were Sam Byron and Junior Firpo, as the club put in discussions.

02:23And so they're the two, really, where we'll have to sort of wait

02:24and see what happens with those.

02:26I think with Junior Firpo, it obviously just comes down, really,

02:28I think, to what Leeds offer him, what deal they can sort for him,

02:33and also what else he has offered.

02:35Difficult one with Firpo, obviously, because last time in the Premier League,

02:38it didn't really happen for him.

02:39But equally, he did have injuries and a lot of disruptions in that season.

02:42And he's obviously had a fantastic season in the Championship

02:45with a hat full of assists and real attack and input.

02:49Obviously, there'll be question marks about what he can do defensively.

02:51But I think you don't want to disrupt the team too much.

02:55Obviously, you need to build the team, build around the team.

02:57And I think most people would probably want him to stay,

03:00if not as a starting option, then very much as a squad option.

03:02So we'll wait and see what happens with him.

03:04And the same with Sam Byron, who's always been, you know,

03:06extremely, extremely reliable when he comes in.

03:08Obviously, different one with Byron, because Firpo was first-choice left-back

03:13very much so, whereas Byron, obviously, slots in on either of those

03:16full-back positions.

03:17Obviously, the one real exit was Joshua Ghiavogi.

03:21And I think people will look at that maybe initially and think,

03:23well, he didn't play very much.

03:24But it does feel like quite a big departure, that one,

03:27because there's no doubt about it that even though he only had,

03:29I think it was 57 minutes of Championship football,

03:31there's no doubt you can tell how much of a leader he was

03:35and the influence he had on the group.

03:37You could just tell from the sheer number of messages

03:38that players put out once his departure was confirmed.

03:41I think he's a real experienced head in there at a time

03:44when it's quite a young group.

03:45So even though he's maybe someone who, like, you know,

03:48might not need replacing as such in terms of the minutes on the pitch,

03:50I think probably it does leave a bit of a void in terms of, like,

03:53the leadership group and stuff.

03:54So obviously, the players will all be a year older now,

03:57you know, led by Ampadu and whatnot.

03:58So, but that does still feel like a big void, nevertheless,

04:01that obviously will have to be filled to some degree.

04:03And then obviously, we had the news, as we all knew,

04:06that Solomon and Rothwell, obviously, we hope very much,

04:09I mean, I think fans are liking both back,

04:11but Solomon especially, absolute standout player.

04:13And I suppose we should also say Jack Harrison as well,

04:15which is very much that's one that's happened this week

04:17in terms of him, as it stands, returning from Everton to Leeds.

04:21And, you know, I think it's difficult to imagine a way back for him.

04:24But, I mean, you sort of,

04:26I think people probably thought the same about Brendan Aronson.

04:28So that's very much one to watch as well.

04:30So, yeah, bits and bobs happening, obviously,

04:32as we'll come to pre-season friendly, starting to get arranged.

04:35And as is always the case of any club,

04:38not a day goes by where Leeds aren't linked with one or two,

04:41or not one or two, several players.

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