Leeds United spent around £100million on 10 new players over the summer in their bid to build Daniel Farke a Premier League squad. A disappointing end to the window has dampened optimism but four points from three games is an impressive tally and lots of positive work was done before Monday’s 7pm deadline.
A number of obvious first-team additions have strengthened Farke’s starting-XI but Leeds also recruited for depth in the knowledge a season rarely passes without injury issues. An apparent change to 4-3-3 also looks to have altered the roles of some while Jack Harrison’s return from Everton added another body out wide.
As such, Leeds were forced to make decisions on those already around the edge of Farke’s plans to keep the squad from becoming bloated, and club chiefs evidently believed there was enough cover in certain positions to sanction loan exits. With all that in mind, the YEP takes a look at the current squad depth, with first-choice and cover options explored for each position.
First-choice: Lucas Perri | Cover: Karl Darlow, Illan Meslier, Alex Cairns
1. Goalkeeper
First-choice: Lucas Perri | Cover: Karl Darlow, Illan Meslier, Alex Cairns | LUFC
First-choice: Jayden Bogle | Cover: James Justin, Sam Byram, Sebastiaan Bornauw
2. Right-back
First-choice: Jayden Bogle | Cover: James Justin, Sam Byram, Sebastiaan Bornauw | Getty Images
First-choice: Joe Rodon | Cover: Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw
3. Right centre-back
First-choice: Joe Rodon | Cover: Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw | Getty Images
First-choice: Jaka Bijol | Cover: Pascal Struijk, Ethan Ampadu
4. Left centre-back
First-choice: Jaka Bijol | Cover: Pascal Struijk, Ethan Ampadu | Getty Images
First-choice: Gabriel Gudmundsson | Cover: James Justin, Sam Byram
5. Left-back
First-choice: Gabriel Gudmundsson | Cover: James Justin, Sam Byram | Getty Images
First-choice: Ethan Ampadu | Cover: Ilia Gruev, Anton Stach
6. Central defensive midfield
First-choice: Ethan Ampadu | Cover: Ilia Gruev, Anton Stach | Getty Images