Leeds United and clubs across the country are tasked with publishing their retained lists by the end of this month.
This is when players who are out of contract are confirmed to either be staying put at their current clubs, or released on a free transfer.
Leeds themselves a number of decisions to make regarding those whose deals are expiring in the coming weeks, with Liam Cooper, Sam Byram and Jamie Shackleton among them.
Cooper has all but confirmed he will be bringing his 10-year stay at Elland Road to an end this month, but as for Byram and Shackleton, there has been no word on what might happen with their respective futures.
Ian Poveda, Lewis Bate and Cody Drameh are the other three and after they spent time out on loan last season, they have all but certainly played their final games for the club.
Leeds should move for out of contract Brighton man Steven Alzate
There are already plenty of players Leeds should be looking at on the free agent market, including recent January target Ben Johnson, who is set to leave West Ham United.
Callum O’Hare and Charlie Taylor are also among the Championship players who are, at this stage, available on a free, showing the level of quality that is available for nothing this summer.
Amid strong interest in Ilia Gruev, midfield could be a position that needs reinforcements when the window opens and there could be an ideal fit about to be released by Brighton & Hove Albion.
According to the Athletic, Steven Alzate is set to depart the Seagulls this month and Leeds should certainly be looking at bringing him to Elland Road.
Having spent the last two seasons on loan at Belgian side Standard Liege, Alzate is regarded as ‘creative’ and someone who can make things happen from the middle of the park, as per journalist Thomas Standaert.
Across his time at Liege, he scored five goals and provided nine assists in 54 appearances and has the ability to play both deeper, and more advanced.
Though far from prolific, those attacking numbers are already an instant upgrade on the number of goals Leeds got from midfield last season, which was none.
Alzate is still only 25, has played over 50 times for Brighton and has also been capped seven times by Colombia, a clear sign of the quality he possesses at his best.
How likely is Ilia Gruev to leave Leeds this summer?
In the aftermath of Leeds’ play-off final defeat, Gruev was certainly one you would’ve filed under that category of staying this summer.
However, things seem to have taken a pretty drastic turn in the last 24 hours, with Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund having been in attendance at Wembley for the play-off final to watch him.
It has also been reported Leeds even rejected a bid before the defeat to Southampton from an unnamed Premier League side, though a deal is now possible.
Leeds spent around £5 million to sign Gruev only last summer and you would imagine if they can make some profit, he is one they could move on.