The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Wednesday 3rd July) Whites turn down £30m Rutter offer

[Ellandback1]

Good Morning. It's Wednesday 3rd June, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Whites turn down £30m Rutter offer

Leeds have turned down a £30m offer from Brighton for talented playmaker Georginio Rutter, according to multiple sources in the press. He joined from Hoffenheim 18 months ago for €40m (£36m), and enjoyed a great start to his first full season with the Whites, creating 22 big chance opportunities and 15 assists, second only to Ipswich Town's Leif Davis (18). His form began to falter towards the end of the campaign, after returning from hernia surgery in late March.

His Achilles heel last season was his wayward shooting in-front of goal. Eight goals from 51 appearances just isn't good enough, especially when you're playing as far forward as Rutter does. At 22, he does have time on his side. It's difficult to criticise the effort and creation the Frenchman exhibits, but will need to find his shooting boots, and quickly, if he is going to achieve his potential.

£30m must have been tempting to the Leeds board, but given he's only 18 months into his 5 1/2 year contract, the FFP depreciation on his contract would only give the Whites a marginal profit, making it not worth their while to sell him. The Financial Fair Play (FFP) impact for players is a result of asset depreciation. Every year, a player loses value equal to 1/the length of their contract. So if you give them a five year contract they lose 20%, if you give them a 10 year contract they lose 10%. That is a loss that’s counted for FFP. So if you give longer contracts, you have a smaller loss each year.





Leeds to avoid FFP penalty after 'late' Archie sale

Leeds will not face the wrath of the EFL, and a possible points deduction if they have stepped outside of the 'Profit and Sustainability' timescale regarding to the 23/24 season. According to an article in this morning's YEP, Leeds needed the sale of Archie Gray to balance the books, a transaction which was only finalised yesterday (2nd July), two days after their financial accounts deadline!

YEP journalist Joe Donnohue has put Leeds fans minds at rest, assuring us that as the club can prove they made every effort to conclude the deal before the deadline, they should avoid any punishment! Due to Leeds’ efforts to conclude a transfer having begun before the deadline, the club can provide paperwork to the relevant authorities - the Premier League and EFL - allowing them to backdate their July 2 sale to the 2023/24 accounting period.





Leeds and Celtic battle it out for O'Hare

Leeds face a battle with Scottish Champions Celtic for the signature of Callum O'Hare. The free scoring midfielder is now out of contract with the Sky Blues, and attracting attention from the green side of Glasgow. O'Hare 26, netted ten times, and provided three assists from just 22 starts last season. He is combative, a good passer of the ball, and likes to get forward!

Born in Solihull, O'Hare is of Irish descent but has represented England at U20 level. He started at youth level with Aston Villa, before joining the Sky Blues in 2020. He has had his fair share of injuries, including an ACL injury on Boxing Day 2022, but as far as free transfers go, why look a gift horse in the mouth?

[Sean_Nile]

Fact check:
Surely the blue side of Glasgow would be Rangers and Celtic would be green

[SG90]

If Brighton bid, then that means a bid from Chelsea will soon follow lol

[Sean_Nile]

The Communist Workers' Party Discussion on FFP and PSR Spending Guidelines for Football

Comrades! We gather here today to discuss the bourgeois concept of Financial Fair Play (FFP) and the equally decadent Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) in the world of football.

As we all know, FFP is a capitalist tool designed to maintain the hegemony of the ruling class clubs. The idea that a club should not spend more than it earns is fundamentally at odds with our glorious socialist principles.

The true measure of a football club is its spirit, not its balance sheet.

FFP restricts the proletariat clubs, preventing them from achieving greatness. It’s a conspiracy to keep the workers' teams in perpetual mediocrity. How can Leeds compete against the capitalist giants like Manchester United and Newcastle?

PSR is merely a facade to give the appearance of financial responsibility while the wealthy clubs manipulate the system with their accountants and lawyers. We must reject these bourgeois constructs and create a new system based on Marxist principles.

What we need is a new set of guidelines—Marxist Football Fairness (MFF). Clubs will be allocated funds based on their supporters’ needs, not on their previous profits.

Under MFF, the most loyal and passionate fans will see their clubs receive the most funding. No longer will our people suffer under the tyranny of capitalist excess. Each club will receive equal support, ensuring that the playing field is level and true merit can shine.

And we shall ban all forms of capitalist advertising. No more will our sacred sport be sullied by commercial interests.

All players shall receive equal wages, reflecting their commitment to the collective rather than their individual prowess. No more obscene salaries for a select few while the masses struggle!

We shall have communal football training centers where players of all ages can develop their skills without the burden of expensive fees. Football shall be the sport of the people!

This is the vision of football that we must strive for. A sport where every club, regardless of its economic background, has an equal chance to succeed. A sport where the spirit of the game is valued over the profits of the few.

To the revolution of football!

[Irish Ian]

Its great being in a position to be able to turn down large bids for our players.

Rutter could go a long way.

Postsmouth for example

[WhiteRose]

Celtic must be a tempting prospect, one or 2 games in Europe before getting knocked out and a Scottish premiership winners meddle akin to that of a five aside tournament.

[Irish Ian]

Celtic must be a tempting prospect, one or 2 games in Europe before getting knocked out and a Scottish premiership winners meddle akin to that of a five aside tournament.

Or contrary

6 games in Champions League, plus playing at home in front if 60000 home fans every other week.

Then back home in time for tea and medals

[Irish Ian]

Leeds being able to reject 30M for Rutter, if true highlights the strong bargaining position we are in since selling Archie

[GreennWhite]

If we can afford to turn down bids for Rutter, can we now afford to turn down bids for any other of our players ?

Does this mean we can keep hold of Summerville, Willy etc, assuming they would be happy to stay another season.

[Pullhard]

Swap for Evan Ferguson
That lad is a unit and knows where the goal is

[Barlow Boy]

Swap for Evan Ferguson
That lad is a unit and knows where the goal is

Can’t see him wanting to drop down a division, very good young player.

[Kennyb41]

Swap for Evan Ferguson
That lad is a unit and knows where the goal is

Definitely the type of deal i'd be wanting us to do.

Fantastic efforts by DF in all of this going forward, i'm beginning to feel like we're getting a hold of the reins a lot stronger than when the clown was riding this horse.

These types of suggestions i.e O'Hare, are exactly what i wanna be hearing, i'm not bothered about losing 1 single player, but not too many.

They're 'on the ball', exciting times ahead.

[Kennyb41]

Leeds being able to reject 30M for Rutter, if true highlights the strong bargaining position we are in since selling Archie

Totally agree, all down to DF.

[Irish Ian]

If we can afford to turn down bids for Rutter, can we now afford to turn down bids for any other of our players ?

Does this mean we can keep hold of Summerville, Willy etc, assuming they would be happy to stay another season.

Yes we can.

The big wrinkle are the returnees and the need to trim the squad.

[weasel]

If we can afford to turn down bids for Rutter, can we now afford to turn down bids for any other of our players ?

Does this mean we can keep hold of Summerville, Willy etc, assuming they would be happy to stay another season.

I think it depends on how much we want to spend elsewhere. If we sold Rutter for basically what we owe on him all that we'd be getting back (in terms of what we could spend ffp wise) would be this year's percentage of his transfer fee so guessing around £7m. So we'd be looking at trying to replace Rutter and have a £7m budget. So it makes more sense to keep Rutter.

Summerville on the other hand we owe nothing on ffp wise so selling himefor £30m effectively would mean we could spend all the £30m on transfers. Which is why selling Gray made a lot of sense ffp wise.

Selling Gnonto makes less sense ffp wise than selling Summerville. Say we made £10m profit but had to pay 30% cos of the sell on clause. That gives us £7m to try to replace him.

So really the 'best' deals for us are selling the homegrown players, Gray, Cresswell etc, or the players that have been here a few years such as Summerville, Struyjk and Messlier as we don't owe anything on them FFP wise (or very little).

[The Subhuman]

My current favourite player and our key player from last season. So often the catalyst for all things Leeds good

He's worth around 40 for me, and worth more than Cry, so 30 not going to cut it.

[The Subhuman]

Would be like selling Pablo in his pomp. Just the wrong thing to do unless you make a massive profit. Do we know if he has a sell on?

[Irish Ian]

Would be like selling Pablo in his pomp. Just the wrong thing to do unless you make a massive profit. Do we know if he has a sell on?

After paying what we paid for him you would hope not.

Only way we make money on him is of he has a scellar season and someone offers him a big money move.

[The Subhuman]

After paying what we paid for him you would hope not.

Only way we make money on him is of he has a scellar season and someone offers him a big money move.

About the same as we paid for Rodrigo and he's paid a lot back in performances. About 8/9 M tied up in add ons and we'll get our monies worth if he triggers them.

Great player... we've had one top season out of him so far. My POTS

[Kennyb41]

I think it depends on how much we want to spend elsewhere. If we sold Rutter for basically what we owe on him all that we'd be getting back (in terms of what we could spend ffp wise) would be this year's percentage of his transfer fee so guessing around £7m. So we'd be looking at trying to replace Rutter and have a £7m budget. So it makes more sense to keep Rutter.

Summerville on the other hand we owe nothing on ffp wise so selling himefor £30m effectively would mean we could spend all the £30m on transfers. Which is why selling Gray made a lot of sense ffp wise.

Selling Gnonto makes less sense ffp wise than selling Summerville. Say we made £10m profit but had to pay 30% cos of the sell on clause. That gives us £7m to try to replace him.

So really the 'best' deals for us are selling the homegrown players, Gray, Cresswell etc, or the players that have been here a few years such as Summerville, Struyjk and Messlier as we don't owe anything on them FFP wise (or very little).

Along these lines is how i'm looking at it from what i've grasped from your explanations re ffp.

Something daft like £35m for Jimmy could go a long way and we already have a Championship level replacement ready to boot,

It all depends on the money for folk like Les Mes, summert like £5m isn't worth entertaining - £20m+ yes

Anyhoos, we're in good shape going forward, I like his handling of matters - DF that is.