Jan. 23/24 Transfer and Squad Discussion

[AcrossThePondAsh]

With the second international break upon us, seems like an apt time to have a look forward to the January window for the 23/24 season.

Share you thoughts, wish lists, who should stay, who should go, what areas need strengthening, etc.

Have at it

[AcrossThePondAsh]

Found this tidbit in the Supporter Advisory Board meeting minutes from the 26th September 2023 meeting:

“Also, discussion about funds, if needed in January, due to injury, will be available. The greater value in January will be from the loan market, have deliberately kept two loan spots free.” - Angus Kinnear

Source: https://t.co/2Rs9WMvnnj

[The Subhuman]

Kalvin Phillips on loan

[The Subhuman]

10......9........8..

[The Subhuman]

7......6......5

[Kennyb41]

I like that that they've kept 2 loan spots free.

Reading between the lines it seems they're on it, i'm hoping players are being looked for and being put on DF's desk to look at and consider going in for, i'm also wanting him to ship some out, especially if any can bring any cash in and especially those in their twilight years (Luke, Cooper) that some club might still pay summert for, even if just £1m, they're off the books and we're moving forward.

Joffy, CC etc aren't part of his plans as he tries to build going forward, he's done a good juggling act up to now and the squad is hopefully getting stronger with his transfers in up to now.

He got rid of some deadwood, had to keep some like Bert did or he would've had nothing, now slowly be rid of the rest.

[AcrossThePondAsh]

Kalvin Phillips on loan

Sub, are you trying to kick something off

To bad everyone already displaced all their KP fury in yesterday's Breakfast Debate

[The Subhuman]

Sub, are you trying to kick something off

To bad everyone already displaced all their KP fury in yesterday's Breakfast Debate

I don't get the Phillips antipathy it's true.

[JoeDenver]

I’m actually hoping that we can secure permanent deals for our current players out on loan. Koch, Wober, Roca, Llorente, and Drameh are all names that I’d like to hear being no longer part of our loan watch

With those funds, it would be nice to secure Rodon and Anthony long term. Still in a wait and see stance with Djed Spence…will need to see how he performs post-international break.

[Musicman1965]

2 loan spots could mean a backup CB if Rodon gets injured, and the much discussed LB where we are still vulnerable.
Cover for Piroe could be another wise move with the length of the Championship season grinding players into the ground.
Probably not a popular idea but Meslier to move on and we use the money to fund further improvements in the team.
Clear some dead wood out of the club and get them off the wage bill.

[AcrossThePondAsh]

More ducks in a row regarding Nick Hammond, our interim transfer consultant, and his colleague, Gary Penrice, former QPR player and chief scout for Celtic.

From Phil Hay's article, "Leeds United’s recruitment – and the players Farke fought to keep – is paying off" from 11 Oct. 2023:

"Hammond's consultancy period ended with the closure of the (summer) transfer window, but the ownership at Leeds valued his work and role in the recruitment of Farke as manager. Recent discussions have taken place about renewing Hammond's contract, a deal which could ensure he and Penrice are on the scene for the next two transfer windows."

Source: https://theathletic.com/4944430/2023/10 ... cruitment/

[lufc1304]

This forward planning and actually operating like a large professional football club takes a bit of getting used to!!!!

[Kennyb41]

More ducks in a row regarding Nick Hammond, our interim transfer consultant, and his colleague, Gary Penrice, former QPR player and chief scout for Celtic.

From Phil Hay's article, "Leeds United’s recruitment – and the players Farke fought to keep – is paying off" from 11 Oct. 2023:

"Hammond's consultancy period ended with the closure of the (summer) transfer window, but the ownership at Leeds valued his work and role in the recruitment of Farke as manager. Recent discussions have taken place about renewing Hammond's contract, a deal which could ensure he and Penrice are on the scene for the next two transfer windows."

Source: https://theathletic.com/4944430/2023/10 ... cruitment/

It's behind a paywall that article, any chance you can copy n paste.

I'd be absolutely delighted if they stayed on, and more so if DF is happy and wants them to, it shows he likes what they're doing.

Jeez i hope we've got or are getting some good structure in place for once.

No doubt the Bert haters will be demanding Champs league football asap if DF has a bad spell

Dickheads that they are, and have no doubt never heard of 'SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE'

[AcrossThePondAsh]

It's behind a paywall that article, any chance you can copy n paste.

I'd be absolutely delighted if they stayed on, and more so if DF is happy and wants them to, it shows he likes what they're doing.

Jeez i hope we've got or are getting some good structure in place for once.

No doubt the Bert haters will be demanding Champs league football asap if DF has a bad spell

Dickheads that they are, and have no doubt never heard of 'SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE'

If they could pull off what they did with the absolute s**t show that was the summer window here's hoping the sky is the limit with the time they have to prep for January.

Here's Phil article:

Leeds United's recruitment - and the players Farke fought to keep - is paying off

Oct 11, 2023

So many footballers have that annoying knack of being naturally good at more than just football. Some of Paul Gascoigne’s old school teachers remember him picking up a tennis racquet and looking like he had been on the courts for years, as proficient as any of his contemporaries despite having never handled one before.

It was not quite excellence to that extreme on Saturday as Archie Gray gave right-back a whirl in Leeds United’s win over Bristol City, but Gray’s command of an unfamiliar position explained the hype around him. The 17-year-old is one of those players for whom no one is setting limits. He is off for England Under-19 duty this week, having missed his last call-up because of concern at Leeds about the physical demands on him. There is only so much holding-back the club can do.

“I’d love to put him in cotton wool,” said United’s manager, Daniel Farke, “but we have to respect that there are bigger ambitions. We can’t hide him away each and every time. We’d prefer that he is called up for the proper Three Lions, but that’s a bit too soon.” Though somewhere down the line, it is not unlikely on the evidence of Gray’s talent so far.

Gray at right-back was not a wild experiment because he has played there at youth level, domestically and internationally. Farke’s rationale was that he thought Gray’s pace and technical ability would make him better suited to Saturday’s game than Luke Ayling, giving him the upper hand in a head-to-head with the tricky Sam Bell. But the strength of Gray’s performance with limited time to prepare told another story: about the way in which Leeds mapped out their recruitment in the summer and, without covering every single base entirely, did a good job of getting it right.

Against Bristol City, Farke was able to play Gray as a full-back without compromising his team on the right side of the defence. He was able to use Gray in that way without compromising the centre of his midfield either because Leeds finally have an adequate headcount in that part of the pitch. He was able to fill the right-back slot without dragging a very competent left-back, Sam Byram, away from his usual role and weakening the team down the left as a result. Gray moving out of midfield and Glen Kamara stepping in to good effect is the dream ticket for a coach: options which interchange without bringing the house of cards down.

It will not always be as smooth as that and Farke found at Southampton, where Leeds were picked apart too easily, that his squad are some way short of being bulletproof, but Southampton, after 11 games, is the sore thumb in a streak of matches which have made United look suitably sure of themselves. It is one defeat in nine for Farke, a run yielding 18 points and five clean sheets. There is a good trend developing of Leeds squeezing results from games which require some patience and persistence, a team who look happy with the system they are using.

Farke, from the day of his appointment in July, was allowed to stamp his own mark on the squad, a manager with the authority to call the shots. Part of the proof of that is that three of the players Leeds talked about selling in the summer window — Pascal Struijk, Illan Meslier and Crysencio Summerville — are among those who have played the most minutes under him. Club Bruges were keen on Struijk, Burnley made a last-minute offer for Summerville and Meslier was the subject of a few enquiries, including one from Celta Vigo, but the arrival of Farke altered their plans.

Farke wanted Leeds to keep all three players and made sure they did. Very quickly, they were moved off the list of prospective exits. Farke has been so committed to Meslier that the other goalkeeper he signed, Karl Darlow, has not played a minute in the Championship yet.

There was also a willingness on United’s part to let Farke return to old favourites. He went back to Norwich City for defender Max Aarons, albeit with frustrating results, and took Sam Byram on a free transfer after his release from Carrow Road despite reservations at Elland Road about Byram’s injury record. He would have signed midfielder Kenny McLean, too, had Norwich not refused to entertain a sale. So many of the bigger clubs in England operate like this: recruitment is managed by dedicated staff but final decisions rest on the manager’s say-so. Struijk, Summerville and Meslier stayed on because Farke was not willing to see them sold.

Nonetheless, it took plenty of pairs of hands and plenty of voices to make the window work. Gretar Steinsson, Leeds’ technical director, was the key influence in persuading Swansea City to sell Joel Piroe for £10.5million ($12.9m). Calls made direct to Swansea’s ownership, rather than to their recruitment department, set the wheels in motion. Angus Kinnear, Leeds’ CEO, was able to use a good relationship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to make loans for Joe Rodon and Djed Spence happen — Rodon’s from a starting point of Spurs asking for a permanent bid in the region of £15m.

Nick Hammond, United’s interim transfer consultant, worked through the summer on a short-term contract, along with a colleague of his, the ex-QPR player Gary Penrice. Penrice, formerly Celtic’s head of recruitment, came on board to help with the tangled process of players moving in and out of Elland Road. Hammond’s consultancy period ended with the closure of the transfer window, but the ownership at Leeds valued his work and his role in the recruitment of Farke as manager. Recent discussions have taken place about renewing Hammond’s contract, a deal which would ensure he and Penrice are on the scene for the next two transfer windows.

As it stands, Leeds’ requirements in January are unlikely to be vast. The overhaul of their squad after relegation from the Premier League moved Farke to the point of having two credible options for each position, give or take a couple of exceptions.

Junior Firpo has not played this season and there remains the question of how Leeds would cope at left-back if Byram’s body was to let him down. Their aborted bid for Bayer Leverkusen’s Nadiem Amiri in August was a hint that Farke would like more depth at No 10, but Firpo is due back after the international break and neither Djed Spence nor Willy Gnonto are a mile away from recovering from injury. The days when Farke was naming two keepers on the bench feel a long way behind him already.

[Kennyb41]

Good stuff, cheers Ash.

The 49er's seem to have their heads screwed on with the sensible approach they're taking in listening to him and also backing him when it came to the players he wanted to keep, it's just common sense stuff, but gives me confidence they hopefully won't get involved on the footy side of things, and nor should they.

We can only judge again in January, but i don't expect a lot.

[DDB220]

Interesting that Spurs wanted around 15 million for Rodon - I am reading into that as a permanent deal. It will be interesting to see if that price goes north if we still want him if we get promoted. Knowing levy he will want an extra 10 million at least. If we had an option to buy at 15m I am sure this would have been reported.

[AcrossThePondAsh]

Interesting that Spurs wanted around 15 million for Rodon - I am reading into that as a permanent deal. It will be interesting to see if that price goes north if we still want him if we get promoted. Knowing levy he will want an extra 10 million at least. If we had an option to buy at 15m I am sure this would have been reported.

It is a bit of a catch-22, in terms of wanting Joe to perform well and the team to earn promotion, but then knowing that could mean premium prices where loanees are concerned. I don't think there's a chance Spurs part with Spence, but it does seem as if they were interested in moving Joe on this summer.

Also, according to Transfermarkt, Joe's contract with Tottenham expires 30 May 2025. With him going into the last year of his contract once this season has ended, that would put some pressure on Spurs/Levy to get a deal done while they still can.

[1964white]

This forward planning and actually operating like a large professional football club takes a bit of getting used to!!!!

As opposed to the disorganized chaos, Nick

[pjm2019]

can we have a list of our loan players and when their contracts finish. From memory we should be able to sell all of them at the end of this season and collect over £100 million

[BlackHillsPaul]

Philadelphia Union Left Back Kai Wagner is looking to make a move in January when his contract expires. He would be available on a free transfer.

After a slight dip in form last year when a transfer to Leeds United failed to materialize he has been back in good form this season. The MLS Best Eleven player has already been linked to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion among other clubs in Europe.

I'm not sure he is a Premier League level player. But I have NO doubts about is ability in the Championship. He would be an immediate upgrade for LUFC and a nice January boost in our push for promotion. He is also a dead ball specialist which we are sorely missing.