Leeds United have key decisions to make this summer as players’ contracts run down, and staying up may still mean major sales.
United are four points clear of the relegation zone with seven games left to play. Daniel Farke and the Leeds fanbase probably would have bitten your hand off for that before a ball was kicked.
Should Farke keep Leeds in the division, it leaves Leeds looking to rebuild again with further spending to kick on in the Premier League.
The 49ers should have a hefty war chest to bestow to the Leeds boss. However, any sales of high-value assets might boost our transfer budget further.
Here, I look at three high-value sales I could see Leeds surprisingly consider in the summer window…
Pascal Struijk
I’ve got to preface this by saying that if it were up to me, I’d be offering Pascal Struijk a new contract as opposed to considering his departure.
However, his long-term deal signed in 22/23 expires in the summer of 2027. It means he’ll have 12 months left from June onwards.
The question for Leeds is such: can we afford to cash in on Struijk at probably his peak value at the club, and replace him sufficiently?
I think he’s criminally underrated by Leeds fans. But, I’d anticipate a number of clubs across Europe would take him in their side this summer.
For Leeds, I do believe that £20million-plus for him would represent good value. That is, in terms of being able to replace him well and rebuilding elsewhere.
It’s also worth noting Struijk signed for free in 2018 from Ajax as a teenager. Therefore, any fee we receive would be pure profit.
Lucas Perri
We all knew a big-money goalkeeper was to be signed after promotion. However, Lucas Perri has been shaky at best with only a handful of strong performances under his belt.
For £15.6million all in, you shouldn’t really be replaced by the £400,000 35-year-old that joined as a Championship backup. For that reason, I believe that the club will be looking to cash in on Perri if possible.
There’s obviously the possibility that he could settle in at Leeds and be the ‘keeper we expected him to be. That said, he’s not shown enough to warrant being Leeds’ long-term solution.
A better goalkeeper is likely to be available for cheaper in the summer. So, I’d expect Leeds to consider selling Perri to finance a replacement.
Willy Gnonto
If Willy Gnonto was going to have a big say in our remaining games this season, then Farke would have brought him on against Brentford.
The fact he was unused in a game where we needed good delivery from out wide says everything about where he stands in the pecking order.
I don’t agree at all with how Farke’s treating Gnonto. Although, I do think anyone clamouring for the Italian being brought in from the cold is wasting their breath, myself included.
He’s contracted until the summer of 2028. Gnonto could command a very high fee for someone who is not really being played much.
Premier League recruitment is full of ruthless decisions in order to keep moving forward. If Gnonto isn’t being played, his transfer value is more important to the club than his rare cameos off the bench.
Like Struijk, Gnonto joined on the cheap for £3.8million in 2022. Should Leeds get a big fee, it’ll almost all go down as profit for the books.
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