All is well at Elland Road after Leeds United won promotion to the Premier League. But the 49ers and co have just let the ball drop, and barely anybody is talking about it.
Daniel Farke is the man about Leeds. He steered Leeds United to promotion to the Premier League, winning the Championship title in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season.
And after what was a very shaky end to the season, all is well once again. Fans are excited for the summer and the new season ahead, and they’re excited to see Leeds United’s latest signing Jaka Bijol in action.
Leeds United have paid just £15million to sign Bijol despite earlier reports putting the figure closer to the £20million mark. And Farke and the 49ers will hope that Bijol can impress, potentially one day being sold on for a huge profit.
That’s the kind of model Leeds United have had to adopt to get back into the Premier League and the model they’ll need to maintain to finally establish themselves in the top flight, along with other factors.
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke during a game against Bristol City.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Leeds United have just lost one of their best young talents
One way that Leeds can keep a steady stream of money coming in is by utilising their young talents in the academy. The prime example being Archie Gray who sealed a £30million move to Spurs last year, after spending just one season playing in the first-team under Farke.
There’s Harry Gray too. Archie’s younger brother. He looks set to make a splash at some point in the near future and Spurs are already sniffing around Gray, who Farke might now be inclined to give some first-team minutes to.
But one player who Farke won’t be able to give a runout to is Oliver Boast. Spurs have poached the 16-year-old striker from Leeds’ academy ranks as The Athletic write that Leeds United and Spurs have agreed upon a seven-figure sum for the player, who himself has decided to make the move.
Archie Gray of Tottenham Hotspur holds the Europa League trophy.
Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
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The Athletic suggest that Boast saw his future game time opportunities at Leeds limited because he was behind Gray in the pecking order.
It’s known that Archie Gray moved to Spurs with the guarantee of regular game time but it feels unlikely that Boast will have been given the same guarantee, given his complete lack of first-team experience.
On the surface, it certainly seems like a weird one. But something has clearly happened behind the scenes at Elland Road to promote Boast into wanting the move and now Farke and the 49ers risk watching Boast go on to become another £30million player like Gray, but this time it won’t be Leeds making all the big bucks.
The news of Boast’s move has done the rounds more so on Spurs’ social media than Leeds’. It’s certainly not something the Whites will want parading online and it has to serve as a stern lesson going forward.
Young players become impatient and more needs to be done to keep them about, and to keep them from lining another club’s pockets.