Leeds United, Burnley and whoever else is unlucky enough to get promoted from the Championship need to get it right this summer, or their 2025/26 Premier League season will be full of misery.
Daniel Farke is going to be a busy man, and exploring the loan market could be a stellar method to improve his squad and ultimately stay up.
Here are 10 Premier League youngsters Leeds (or the clubs around them) should try to sign on loan in the summer transfer window…
Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion)
God bless Brighton and their world-class recruitment team. Albion players account for 30% of this feature and it could have been a lot higher, ignoring Valentin Barco, Facundo Buonanotte and a couple of others. We start with former wonderkid-turned-disappointment Evan Ferguson.
The Irish striker might think he has bigger fish to fry than newly promoted Leeds United, but we’re not sure. After all, he’s currently warming the bench for West Ham – a team 15th in the Premier League – after struggling to play for Brighton in the first half of 2024/25.
There was talk in January of one of the ‘Big Six’, namely Arsenal, looking at him as an emergency option, but that never came close and he ultimately joined a wildly underperforming team who have been unable to improve under Julen Lopetegui’s replacement, Graham Potter.
Brighton and Ferguson need to work out a way to untap the potential everyone was ranting and raving about in 2022, because his stock is falling dramatically and a player once guaranteed to fetch the Seagulls at least £100million is now worth less than half that amount. Another loan might be ruled out considering how poorly his Hammers spell has gone, but minutes are much more likely at a newly promoted team like Leeds, even if Joel Piroe bagged 19 in the Championship this term.
Harry Amass (Manchester United)
Manchester United are in no way inclined to hand out favours to Leeds United and Leeds United are probably too proud to go to Old Trafford asking for help. Regardless, we have families to feed and want a Man United player in this list.
There is, as always, logic behind this. Leeds are set to lose Junior Firpo – reportedly to Real Betis – and need to sign at least one left-back in the summer. Getting a promising Premier League youngster on loan is cost-effective, but if the profile is right, also very clever on-the-pitch-wise.
Amass’ integration into the United first team has been far from seamless, even though we were told he’d fit Ruben Amorim’s system to a tee. He’s struggled, and that’s to be expected really, given how dysfunctional and easy to play against this United team is.
Patrick Dorgu is the first-choice left-wing-back and Luke Shaw – also able to play left-centre-back – is likely ahead of Amass in the pecking order, so Amass could do with a year out on loan. Rivalries aside, we honestly think Elland Road would be perfect.
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Julio Enciso (Brighton and Hove Albion)
Enciso is one of Brighton’s most promising youngsters and he has impressed on loan in a rubbish Ipswich Town team. Fingers cannot be pointed at the young Paraguayan for Ipswich’s relegation this season; he has been one of very few bright spots in a miserable campaign.
He is the sort of player capable of getting you off your seat, whether that be with a 30-yard screamer or a piece of skill, which is one of the fundamentals you want from a young whippersnapper, as well as energy, commitment and effort. Which might all basically be the same thing.
Brighton might be reluctant to send Enciso to a promoted club again considering the last six all went immediately back down without putting up much of a fight, but Leeds feel… different. If there’s a Championship club that stands a chance of staying in the Premier League, it’s them. There isn’t much logic to this other than they’re a big club with a rich history. Yep, it looks like we are relying on aura for a relegation battle. Excellent.
Marc Guiu (Chelsea)
There is no way into the Chelsea team for poor Guiu, who turned down an equally difficult pathway at Barcelona to earn more money in London. Game time has been scarce and almost exclusively only in the league phase of the Europa Conference League, and it would make no sense to stagnate his career and development further by keeping him on the periphery again next season.
He is only 19 and six goals in six European games is a positive sign, especially the first-half hat-trick he scored against… Shamrock Rovers. FFS. And we thought the financial disparity between Chelsea and semi-final opponents Djurgardens was bad.
A hamstring injury has ruled Guiu out since February, but even so, he couldn’t get a kick in the Premier League when fit. Leeds and Burnley should give serious thought to signing the Spanish striker this summer, even if we’re not sure how good he is yet.
Lewis Miley (Newcastle United)
This is ambitious, but not completely out of the question. Newcastle are set to return to the Champions League, barring a complete disaster, and will need a big squad in 2025/26 to ensure lightning doesn’t strike twice and they falter domestically as well as in Europe. That makes keeping Miley more sensible than sending him out on loan to Leeds, but there is still a strong chance it could be a career-defining move for the young Geordie.
For a city obsessed with football, Newcastle doesn’t produce a vast amount of talent and Miley is arguably their best academy graduate this century. Eddie Howe will be very careful with his development and won’t make any rash loan decisions. Leeds will need to ensure they are right for him if by some chance they do target Miley. And if they get him, they’ve got a reyt gem.
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Ibrahim Osman (Brighton and Hove Albion)
Currently on loan at Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, Osman cost Brighton £16million last February and was sent to the Netherlands in August. Three goals and three assists in the Dutch top flight is pretty underwhelming, especially in comparison to Yankuba Minteh – who left Newcastle for Brighton last summer after a season at Feyenoord – and his 10 goals and three assists.
Osman doesn’t seem ready to come in and play consistently for the Seagulls and after an average loan abroad, joining a newly promoted Premier League team feels like a natural next step.
Leeds’ attack was devastating in the 2024/25 Championship, scoring 95 goals – a division high by 24. Second? Norwich City down in 13th, obviously. Still, they will need more quality up front, especially if Manor Solomon doesn’t join permanently or extend his loan.
Luis Guilherme (West Ham)
Speaking of which, the Whites could probably do with at least two new forwards. Finding a game-changing addition or their next Raphinha is a big ask, so the low-risk additions of Osman and/or West Ham’s Luis Guilherme could work.
The issue with this one is that no-one really knows if Guilherme is any good. We’re not sure if Graham Potter even knows. The positive thing is that he’s a young Brazilian winger and Brazil have produced loads of world-class ones. Let’s just hope he can get closer to the level of Raphinha and Vinicius Junior than Marquinhos and Kenedy.
Josh Acheampong (Chelsea)
Focusing entirely on the forward areas would be naïve and very costly. As touched on already, a new left-back is a priority for Daniel Farke, but adding someone with the versatility of Acheampong would go a long way to providing the depth necessary to stay in the Premier League.
Like most players at Chelsea, the 19-year-old is under contract for the foreseeable, signing an extension until 2029 last December, so the Blues clearly rate him highly, and if they do, there’s a strong chance they give him a loan to spread his wings in 2025/26.
He is capable of playing right and centre-back, and there is not one downside we can think of for Leeds, Chelsea or Acheampong.
Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur)
This is extremely unrealistic considering how much football Archie Gray has played this season, but considering it’s Leeds we are talking about, there is a chance… ever so slightly.
The reasons for Spurs not sanctioning the loan exit of Gray are much more compelling than the reasons to do it, if we are not jumping the gun by going plural there.
The 19-year-old used to play for Leeds and is welcome back at Elland Road. Go on, Spurs, make it happen; it could be the perfect way to give Gray some positional stability and ensure his progress is not further hindered.
Stefan Bajcetic (Liverpool)
Forgotten Liverpool starlet Bajcetic has been on loan at RB Salzburg and Las Palmas this season, reuniting with Pep Lijnders in Austria. Jurgen Klopp’s old assistant manager lasted 29 games and six months before being sacked.
Liverpool snapped up Bajcetic for a measly £224,000 in December 2020, making his first-team debut a little under two years later. After showing immense promise, injuries began to hold him back and a loan was the right call last summer. Still, it’s not been a comfortable year for the 20-year-old, who was recalled in January and instantly sent to Las Palmas in his native Spain.
At least moving to La Liga was the right call. He’s played a lot more in his home country, but his performances haven’t been great. Next year could be make-or-break for Bajcetic, and Leeds signing him would be risky, but the potential reward is huge.
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