Leeds United will have a busy summer ahead of them regardless of whether they win promotion or not.
Those behind-the-scenes will already be putting the necessary plans in place for both potential eventualities, as Daniel Farke focuses on the on-field preparations.
Having missed out on automatic promotion, Leeds will now get a second bite of the cherry this weekend as they face the first leg of the play-offs at Farke’s former side Norwich City.
Leeds fans are not overly confident of their side’s chances after how the league season ended, as they picked up just eight points in as many matches which saw them miss out on automatic promotion.
A return to the Premier League would undoubtedly lead to a more exciting summer, as the majority of the focus would be on who comes in, as opposed to who leaves.
On the other hand, with £190 million of unpaid transfer instalments still hanging over the club, Leeds would have to sell key players if they remained in the Championship.
Leeds need to sell Sam Greenwood this summer
One big job on the hands of Leeds’ recruitment staff will be what happens to the abundance of players out on loan from Elland Road.
Eight first team players departed the club temporarily last summer in the wake of relegation, and so far only Luis Sinisterra and Robin Koch have sealed permanent departures.
Farke has already hinted he will not welcome the other six back, and so a lot of hard work could be ahead organising fresh loan deals, or potential sales.
On the other hand, Leeds have a lot less work to do when it comes to deciding what to do with those have been on loan in the EFL.
Luke Ayling, Lewis Bate, Ian Poveda, Cody Drameh and Sam Greenwood are the five players who fall under that category, with the latter the only one whose contract does not expire next month.
Alongside Ayling, Greenwood has been on loan at Middlesbrough, who have the option-to-buy him for around jus £1.5 million.
However, Greenwood’s Boro teammate Hayden Hackney has seemingly all but confirmed they will not be doing so on Instagram, meaning he will return to Leeds this summer.
Having made a good start to life at the Riverside, Greenwood has struggled over the last few months, with his last goal contribution coming all the way back on January 13.
That sort of statistic is a clear sign Greenwood will not be good enough for Leeds next season, regardless of the division they are in.
If promotion isn’t secured this month, Leeds will be putting a squad together this summer ready for another top two push, of which Greenwood shouldn’t be apart of. He also certainly wouldn’t be good enough for the Premier League.
Greenwood has two years left to run on his contract at Leeds and so now would be the ideal time to sell.