Leeds United will effectively get a second chance at promotion when the Championship play-offs begin this weekend.
The Whites blew their opportunity of finishing in the top two after a dismal end to the season which saw them pick up just eight points in their final eight matches.
And after coming third in the regular 46-game season, Daniel Farke will now lead his side up against former club Norwich City over two legs. The winner will face either Southampton or West Brom at Wembley.
After such a poor end to the season, Leeds supporters are feeling pessimistic ahead of them commencing on Sunday, but hopefully Farke has been restoring the players’ confidence levels at Thorp Arch this week.
Having lost four of their last six matches, Leeds will have to make Championship history in order to win the play-offs as no side has ever gone onto win them after ending the season in such fashion.
What Leeds are thinking about the summer transfer window
With the summer transfer window already on the horizon, those behind-the-scenes will already be planning for what’s ahead.
Leeds’ recruitment staff will be putting preparations in place for two potential eventualities – remaining in the Championship and promotion to the Premier League.
The latter would obviously bring a considerably more exciting summer, while the former would unfortunately lead to the sale of some key players to ensure they are compliant with PSR and offset some of that £190 million in unpaid transfer instalments.
Having said that, according to the Athletic, Leeds not believe it would have to be a crazy fire-sale if they do stay down, though there is acknowledgement certain players would have to be sold.
Parachute payments are cut from 55 per cent to 45 per cent in club’s second season after relegation and therefore player sales are the easiest and quickest way to help cope with that loss of revenue.
Who are the most likely to be sold if Leeds stay down?
The most obvious candidate to be moved on this summer is unfortunately Crysencio Summerville, who has been Leeds’ stand-out player.
He scored 19 goals and provided nine assists in the Championship, won the division’s POTS and has already been attracting interest from numerous big clubs.
It would not be a surprise if Willy Gnonto is the subject of interest either based on the number of clubs who were interested last summer.
Archie Gray also has plenty of admirers elsewhere including Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund, but hopefully Leeds can get another year out of him.