Leeds United might be busy acquiring players but the club are also making moves to bolster their backroom staff.
The club have hired Cardiff City’s head of first team analysis Matthew Jenkins, who arrives at Thorp Arch as a first team performance analyst. Jenkins spent nearly eight years at Cardiff, rising through the ranks having initially joined the under-23s in 2018.
Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy was ‘blown away’ by Jenkins upon embarking on his managerial role at the Bluebirds last year, sitting as a very highly-valued member of the backroom team.
Data is now an intrinsic necessity for elite football clubs when it comes to assessing how players are performing and how they can improve. Of course, the 49ers employ a data-infused approach to sourcing targets too, and Tarik Muharemovic will have been a result of this methodology.
Leeds had known for some time that Pascal Struijk was going to depart Elland Road. The club had offered the defender a substantially improved contract at the end of the season but the Dutchman made it clear there and then that he was adamant on a new challenge.
That actually made life simpler for Leeds - Struijk would be the player to drum up the funds to help the club stay within spending limits before the June 30 deadline. If not for the club’s run to the FA Cup semi-finals and 14th-place Premier League finish, the Whites would have had to sell more.
Struijk’s clear communication allowed Leeds to start the hunt for a replacement and they evidently have landed on Muharemovic, who will cost almost double of the initial £18m received from Brighton for Struijk.
Tarik Muharemovic is left-footed
View 2 Images
Tarik Muharemovic is left-footed(Image: sportinfoto/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
With the agreement currently only a deal in principle, matters such as player wages and bonuses still need to be ironed out. But Muharemovic looks set to become the second arrival of the summer, after Harry Wilson.
Wales colleagues Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon were in the ear of Wilson during their international camp in June, and are delighted that he has put pen to paper at Elland Road.
Rodon and Ampadu are known to have a strong friendship, and the duo spent some of their summer on holiday together in America. As well as relaxation, the Welsh warriors made sure to schedule in fitness training to ensure they ticked themselves over ahead of pre-season.
Monday marked the first day back and Wilson was spotted gladhanding his international teammates as players arrived for body-metric testing at Leeds Beckett University’s performance sports hub.
FOLLOW OUR LUFC FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news, analysis and more on our Leeds United FB page
Also spotted was Ilia Gruev, whose season was cut short by a meniscus knee injury in April. Leeds will need to make a contract renewal decision this summer - be it offer one or decide to sit on their hands - with just a year left on his current deal.
Gruev might not be among the first names that come to mind when running through the standout stars of the squad but he is beloved by fans in part thanks to his tireless community work off the field.
The Bulgarian, who told me earlier this year that his drive to help others stems from his upbringing, invited young adults with learning difficulties to Thorp Arch this week to host mentoring sessions and inspire them to fulfil their ambitions.
Local broadcaster ITV Calendar produced a fantastic feature piece on the gesture on Tuesday evening.
Subscribe to the Leeds United newsletter
Never miss a breaking story again. By subscribing to Leeds Live's LUFC newsletter, you'll get daily updates with the biggest news, breaking transfer stories and best analysis on all things Leeds United.
It's easy to subscribe, and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe at any time.
Click here to subscribe to Leeds Live's LUFC newsletter