Leeds United are back in the Premier League and need serious reinforcements, with the last six clubs to win promotion from the Championship going straight back down.
If Daniel Farke’s side want to avoid the same fate, they’ll need to improve in the summer transfer window. Here are six players with Premier League experience they should bring back…
**Francisco Trincao (Sporting CP)**Trincao can’t be someone Barcelona fans remember fondly. Signed from Braga for over €30million in 2020, he was loaned out to Wolves after a season, where he had an underwhelming 2021/22 campaign. But two goals and one assist in 28 Premier League appearances didn’t exactly scream ‘£30m winger’ either.
Eventually sold to Sporting for around €7million, the Portuguese winger has found form and consistency at last. He scored nine goals and assisted 15 more in 34 league games in 2024/25, thriving under Ruben Amorim and then Rui Borges as part of Sporting’s fluid front three.
Still only 24, Trincao would represent a high-ceiling signing for Leeds United — someone with just about enough Premier League experience to avoid culture shock, but still young enough to improve further. He also has the flair and unpredictability that Leeds fans so sorely missed after Raphinha left for Barcelona. There’s a nice bit of symmetry in that too.
**Denis Zakaria (Monaco)**This is a pretty ambitious – no, not completely unrealistic – list, as you might have already gathered. Sure, Zakaria is Monaco captain. Sure, Monaco finished third in Ligue Un and will play in the Champions League. And sure, Leeds United have just been promoted to the closed shop that is the Premier League.
Zakaria established himself at Borussia Monchengladbach and was seemingly wanted by every top European club before joining Juventus for a cut-price £10million with five months left on his contract. He didn’t do particularly well in Italy, and a loan spell with Chelsea (which qualifies him here) in 2022/23 was underwhelming. Monaco still paid around £16m in August 2023, and he’s done very well there.
His stock is high again, but at 28 now, there’s understandably not as much interest as there was when he was 24 and flying in the Bundesliga. Given his importance, it’s unlikely Monaco will sell Zakaria, but if the Swiss defensive midfielder fancies a second bite at the Premier League cherry, then Leeds should have a go. They need some big signings to avoid relegation.
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**Gedson Fernandes (Besiktas)**Once of Tottenham Hotspur, Gedson Fernandes has quietly rebuilt his career at Besiktas. The 26-year-old midfielder was one of their standout performers in the 2024/25 season, contributing eight goals and assists from midfield and dictating play with a confidence and maturity that Spurs fans never knew existed.
He’s not an outstanding goal scorer, but rather a tempo-setter and press-resistant carrier who could add real dynamism to Farke’s midfield. Fernandes might now be ready for a second attempt at the Premier League and Leeds would be smart to offer him the platform.
Allan Saint-Maximin (Al Ahly)
We have already covered the prospect of Leeds targeting Saint-Maximin as a potential ‘new Raphinha’, and we’re doubling down. The ex-Newcastle man left for the Saudi Pro League two years ago but spent 2024/25 on loan at Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
Still only 28, Saint-Maximin is one of the most electrifying wingers to have graced the Premier League in recent years. Leeds need that kind of spark — someone who can turn a game on his own, lift the crowd and terrify tired full-backs.
He’s the sort of signing who could make Elland Road bounce, and that’s no small thing when you’re trying to scrape your way to survival. If he’s open to a return to proper football, Leeds should be waiting with a plane ticket.
**Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim)**Here’s another blast from the past. Kramaric made just two Premier League starts for Leicester before being moved on in 2016, but he’s since carved out an outstanding career in the Bundesliga. He has scored 143 goals and provided 66 assists for Hoffenheim — including 11 and 10 respectively in 2024/25 — and remains one of the most technically gifted forwards in Germany. A total of 187 goal involvements in 286 Bundesliga games is no mean feat.
He turns 34 next summer and is entering the final year of his contract, which means Hoffenheim might be tempted to cash in now. He’s been loyal to the club, but if a Premier League side came calling — even a newly-promoted one — there’s every chance he’d be tempted.
For Leeds, Kramaric would offer versatility, intelligence, and actual end product. He might not press like a 24-year-old, but he would be a huge addition.
Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
Sure, why not? Actually…don’t answer that.
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