Leeds United’s squad looks set for somewhat of an overhaul this summer.
The Whites‘ 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the play-off final on Sunday means they will once again be playing Championship football again next season.
Having become the only one of the three relegated sides not to secure an immediate return to the Premier League, Leeds already know some key players will have to move on.
In the likes of Crysencio Summerville, Willy Gnonto and some of the returning loanees, Leeds do have plenty of saleable assets, meaning the core of this season’s team should stick around.
What’s more, on paper, next season’s Championship does look weaker than the last campaign, and so there is no reason why Leeds can’t go one better this time next year.
So, with that in mind, here are three players Daniel Farke should build the spine of his side around next season.
Pascal Struijk
Starting from the back, it will be important for Leeds to use pre-season as the chance to get Pascal Struijk back fully fit once again.
Struijk last played on Boxing Day due to an injury worse than initially feared, which has kept him out for the last five months, and ultimately resulted in surgery.
Leeds missed Struijk hugely at both ends of the pitch and though all in hindsight, it is difficult not to wonder where they would’ve ended up had he been fit.
Not only did Leeds fail to score from a single corner during his absence, but his progressive passing from the back was severely missed, too. It also forced Ethan Ampadu to drop out of the midfield.
Farke has already earmarked Struijk as one of the cornerstones of Leeds‘ future and so in getting him back fit, they will have one of the division’s best at centre-back ready and raring to go.
Ethan Ampadu
As mentioned, Struijk’s injury forced Ampadu to play as a centre-back between January and Sunday’s play-off final.
Though the 23-year-old did a good job, he is far better in midfield and his absence became more and more hard felt as the season went on.
Ahead of his imminent departure, Liam Cooper has already earmarked Ampadu as his ideal replacement as captain and so it is vital he is kept hold of.
After the season he has had, which has seen him play all but one minute of every league match, it would not be a surprise if Premier League clubs came calling.
However, he is one Leeds desperately need to keep hold of. With Ampadu shielding a back four that already includes Struijk, the foundations are already there for a strong team.
Mateo Joseph
Patrick Bamford is one who could now go after Leeds’ failure to win promotion, and in all honesty, it feels like the right time.
Though Leeds did win 11 of the 15 matches he started, he is just unavailable far too often and the consistent reliance on him to have to stay fit, when he’s proven he can’t, is tiresome.
Mateo Joseph is the only natural number nine replacement for Bamford in the entire squad and yet Farke refused to hand him even one league start all season.
Even in the final, Joseph was handed less than 10 minutes despite Joel Piroe offering virtually nothing, in what was another game that proved he cannot lead the line on his own.
Next season, though, has to be a different story. If he can get a full pre-season under his belt, there is no reason why he can’t begin next season as Leeds’ starting striker.
He showed more than enough in his start at Chelsea and cameos off the bench that he is ready, and there is no better time to blood someone like Joseph than at the start of a new campaign.