Brenden Aaronson has made the shock decision to return to Leeds United next season.
Aaronson was the first of eight members of the 2022/23 first team squad to leave on loan 12 months ago in the wake of relegation, a decision which had looked to signal the end of his career at Leeds.
However, following the end of his time at Union Berlin, Aaronson has now reportedly decided to give a second go of it at Elland Road after talks with Daniel Farke on his future.
Not only has Aaronson rejected a return to Union Berlin in order to do so, but he has also waivered the loan clause which was once again active in his contract.
Aaronson certainly has a lot of work to do to get fans back onside and the question from them now will be who could potentially follow him.
Jack Harrison, Max Wober, Marc Roca, Diego Llorente and Rasmus Kristensen all have futures which are currently undecided, and so LeedsUnited.News have assessed the likelihood of those now returning.
Jack Harrison
Harrison was the longest serving Leeds player to leave on loan last summer, which almost left an even sourer taste in the mouths of supporters.
He was able to secure an immediate return to the Premier League with Everton and after an okay season personally, it looks like he will be moving back to Goodison Park.
Paraag Marathe has insisted Leeds are in a better position when it comes to the loanees this time around, but Harrison is said to have the opportunity to leave on loan again.
With all that in mind, it is very difficult to see him following Aaronson back to Elland Road.
Marc Roca
After one disappointing season in West Yorkshire, Roca returned to his native homeland of Spain to join Real Betis for the year.
He enjoyed a solid individual campaign at Betis but financial issues for the Spanish side have made a permanent deal difficult, meaning his future is still up in the air.
However, after Leeds’ play-off final defeat, their sporting director has confirmed a deal is all but done, perhaps even for a lower fee than had originally been agreed.
Roca all but certainly won’t be linking up with Aaronson in midfield again.
Max Wober
Wober is in a similar situation to that of Roca in that he enjoyed a strong season at a club who are struggling financially.
Despite Borussia Monchengladbach’s interest in re-signing him, they are currently unable to meet Leeds’ asking price of £14.5 million. He had wanted his future sorted before the EUROs, but that won’t be happening.
Wober is unlikely to be short of interest in the Bundesliga, but ultimately it is going to come down to whether anyone can meet Leeds’ demands.
It has to be said, a return to Leeds feels more likely for Wober than either Harrison or Roca, so it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.
Rasmus Kristensen
Alongside Llorente, Kristensen spent the season on loan at AS Roma but hardly pulled up any trees with his performances.
As such, it has already been reported Roma will not be looking to bring him back to the Italian capital, and so as it stands, he is pencilled in to return to Leeds for pre-season.
Given how the last two years of his career have gone, it would not be a surprise if Kristensen is distinctly short of interest this summer.
Unlike Aaronson, he was bought a relatively cheap fee of just £10m and so Leeds aren’t likely to make a substantial loss on him if he is sold.
That said, with Leeds in need of a right-back this summer, it really would not be a surprise if he was the next to be brought back into the fold.
Diego Llorente
Llorente enjoyed a considerably better season than Kristensen at Roma, having also been on loan there for the second half of the 2022/23 campaign too.
Given Llorente had already left before Leeds were relegated anyway, there is less animosity towards the Spaniard than the others.
However, that also means he was deemed surplus to requirements while Leeds were still a Premier League side anyway and so he won’t be returning.
Roma are still mulling over a permanent deal for him, but whether they do or don’t, he shouldn’t have much trouble moving elsewhere.