Monday's deadline passed without any late arrivals but Leeds United spent over £100m this summer.
Gabriel Gudmundsson is happy with the nine players who followed him through the door at Leeds United this summer - and believes their early points return is evidence of a good window.
Gudmundsson became Leeds’ fourth summer signing at the start of July after the agreement of a £10million fee with French outfit Lille, following Lukas Nmecha, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Jaka Bijol. Six more followed the left-back as Elland Road chiefs strengthened across the defence and midfield.
Leeds also got three attacking players through the door but only one - £18m winger Noah Okafor - was a fee-paying transfer and late attempts to further strengthen fell short. Manager Daniel Farke regularly stated the need for final-third quality in the window’s final weeks but did not get it, with a deadline-day move for Fulham’s Harry Wilson collapsing late on.
Gudmundsson is among a handful of Leeds players to jet off on international duty this week with his Sweden side kicking off their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign against Jaka Bijol’s Slovenia on Friday. And ahead of that meeting in Ljubljana, the left-back offered his thoughts on a rollercoaster summer in West Yorkshire.
“That’s a question for the club I think,” Gudmundsson told Sky Sports when quizzed on Leeds transfer business. “I’m really satisfied with what we’ve got and with the squad. You can see we got four points against three very decent teams in the Premier League. I’m happy so far, let’s see what the outcome will be.”
There has been more attention on Gudmundsson and his Sweden teammates than usual this week, given Alexander Isak is among the group preparing to face Slovenia. The forward went on strike at Newcastle in a bid to force his move to Liverpool, which eventually materialised when the Anfield club saw a Premier League record £130m bid accepted.
Leeds United praised after keeping Newcastle at bay
Of course, Isak’s decision to go on strike meant he was not involved last weekend as Leeds and Newcastle played out a 0-0 draw at Elland Road. Eddie Howe’s men were certainly lacking any serious attacking threat in their former talisman’s absence, but Gudmundsson believes their failure to score is more a reflection of his side’s defensive strength.
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“I said hello and congratulated him for the move,” Gudmundsson said of his international teammate. “Alex is a top, top player. He’s one of the best players in the Premier League, if not the world, so I'm pleased to play with him in the national team. We did really well at Elland Road. It's a difficult place to come. It won’t only be Newcastle, I think, who is going to struggle against us.”
Following Friday’s trip to Slovenia, Gudmundsson and Sweden then travel to Kosovo for another World Cup qualifier on Monday evening. The left-back will then return to the UK and after some rest, begin preparations for next weekend’s Premier League trip to Fulham.
Other first-team internationals include Bijol, Dan James, Karl Darlow and Ilia Gruev. Joe Rodon had been with his Wales teammates for games against Kazakhstan and Canada but has withdrawn from the squad, although the YEP understands he should be fine to face Fulham in 10 day’s time.
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