Leeds United vs West Ham
Leeds United spent more than £100m on 10 new players in the summer transfer window to retool their squad following Premier League promotion. However, Daniel Farke wants reinforcements in the winter window to boost their survival chances this season.
The Whites have made a solid start to life back in the Premier League, with eleven points in their opening nine games. They are on course to ensure Premier League survival, if recent history is considered as evidence.
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However, Leeds manager Farke is aware that his squad have a few holes that need to be plugged, and the German head coach is keen to bring in reinforcements, especially in the final third of the pitch.
But there are real concerns that more spending in the winter window could breach the Premier League’s PSR regulations, and a couple of sales would be required to balance the books.
Leeds United are under major PSR pressure
Leeds insisted at the end of the summer that they could not have done more in the last transfer window after largely maxing out their PSR through their recruitment.
However, there were doubts raised about those claims, with the club actively looking to bring in players in the winter transfer window.
Leeds have been heavily linked with a move for Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Issouf Sissokho, who is ready to consider a switch to Elland Road.
However, journalist Pete O’Rourke conceded that a deal would be hard to do as Leeds are genuinely concerned about breaching PSR if they spend more money in Janaury.
He conceded that Leeds are only likely to reinforce their squad in the winter window if they sanction a couple of key departures in January.
“Maybe Sissokho is an option that’s come up to Leeds and could be good value for money in that respect”, O’Rourke said on the Inside Track Podcast.
“He’s got 18 months left on his contract at Maccabi, and I’m sure the opportunity for the Mali international to move to the Premier League will be something that he would very much be interested in as well.
“I think a deal will be hard to do due to Leeds were pretty much maxed out on their PSR and FFP in the summer window when they spent heavily on a number of players as well.
“So it might mean that players might need to be moved on if they are to bring any new signings in, like Sissokho, but he’s a young player with huge potential.
“As I said, Leeds are obviously keeping tabs on them. So let’s see if they follow up and firm up their interest.”
Who can Leeds sell to generate enough PSR headroom?
Leeds managing director Robbie Evans admitted that after the summer, if the club had succeeded in signing some of their more expensive targets, a couple of key players could have been sold.
Illan Meslier is an obvious candidate to leave in Janaury. But it seems increasingly unlikely that any club would be ready to pay a significant fee for him in the winter window.
The Frenchman’s sale is unlikely to generate enough PSR headroom, and Leeds may have to consider a couple of key players from their squad.
Wilfried Gnonto has interest from the Saudi Pro League, and Pascal Struijk had a few European clubs sniffing around him in the summer transfer window.
Both could be sold for major cash, which would create the space required for Leeds to spend on new reinforcements in the winter window.
However, Farke may not want to destabilise his squad in the middle of the season and may ultimately decide to keep the squad intact rather than risk unrest for new players.
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