With their star man leaving just weeks after their most exciting player left, Leeds United are in risky business.
There was confidence around Elland Road and Thorp Arch all summer that Leeds would at least emerge from the summer transfer window with their promotion papers intact. They made it clear that a sell-off was inevitable – or at least a big one. The two big ones, Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville leaving, and just under £10 million, all fall pretty much within the bounds of what was expected, or perhaps more accurately what fans initially feared. The loss of Gray was a bitter blow that was not softened much by the £40 million that arrived opposite Tottenham Hotspur. Indeed, losing Summerville was what most steeled themselves for when the window opened, so this move to West Ham United, which should have been completed on Friday night but may not be announced until Saturday, has not come as a blow.
Even Leeds prepared for such an event. That’s why so much time and effort has gone into finding wide players to replace Summerville, or even Willy Gnont, whose future will remain uncertain until he or the club rule out a bye in the summer of 2024. But with the addition of players like Gray and Summerville, 49ers Enterprises are putting themselves in a position where the pain will be very real if they go down.
Apart from the first major concern, which is financial due to the profitability and sustainability regulations as they are and the credit card transfer bill received by the previous regime, Leeds’ owners are very aware of what will be said about them and how the fan base will react if Farke’s best talents are taken away and they fail to replace them adequately. Missing out on promotion for the second time would further weaken the club’s financial position outside the first division and make attempt number three more difficult than the first two. The longer you are in the championship, the harder it will be to get out of it. So fielding a worse team than the one that scored 90 points and still didn’t get promoted last season is simply not an option. Keeping fans involved and engaged is as important for revenue as it is for creating an atmosphere at Elland Road that is conducive to success. And if the best-case scenario doesn’t happen next May, the words Gray and Summerville will dominate the discourse.
There is a healthy dose of cynicism when it comes to the perception of ownership among fans due to the false promises and opinions of the past, and what some see when looking at the transfer exits is not an overarching strategy to keep P&S in check while maintaining Farke’s talent pool , but an investment group that favors pounds and pence. Those fans will have to prove what will happen in the window and what comes after it closes. The risk of losing fan confidence is always there, but right now there’s a delicate balance between the very short run of sound business and imminent success, and how this ownership group doesn’t want to be seen.
Replacing Gray is an almost impossible task because of who he is. Eighteen years old, Leeds United all the way, with that name, that potential and the ability to make positions on the pitch redundant – you just don’t get another in the transfer market. Maybe he might get another one in the academy if brother Harry is allowed to develop what already looks like an early talent, but there will be nothing like Archie Gray in the upcoming Leeds deal.
Replacing Summerville is a completely different matter as you can sign goalscorers, goalscorers and those rare beasts who do both with a degree of consistency. The player or players that Leeds bring in to round out an already very dangerous and diverse attacking force don’t even need as high a threshold as Summerville. They can prove themselves at this level or in a similar league and as long as they get Leeds up, the job is done. They must represent quality. They have to come up with the assist, that last pass that splits the defense, that cross that begs for a finish, or the finish that beats the goalkeeper. They or someone in the existing squad needs to take on the talismanic nature that Summerville often, but not always, displayed last season. This main male energy that he brings through the door must be found in another. The risk here is that very few, if any, signings come with a guarantee that they will fit in with the team, their team-mates, the manager, his system, style of play, English game or high expectations. players at Elland Road. You can pick a player and be sure he will replace Summerville, but you can’t definitively say he will until he plays.
There are those who see the fee coming in at less than £30m and question the club’s ability to sell players at their true value, with the price of Raphinha and, let’s be brutally honest, Gray still fresh in their minds. But Leeds may have decided that the slight compromise on finances will be a downside, more than enhanced by the advantage of time still available to complete the rest of the deal. These are not panic stations in the final days or hours of summer, where they have to scramble unsuccessfully for Cody Gakpo or Bamba Dieng and then grab Gnonta at the last minute.
The prep work they’ve already done should hypothetically mean they can trigger trades they’ve prepared just for this possibility. Player availability is of course a variable and we understand that Leeds believe that given the strength of the squad Summerville leaves behind, they don’t need to jump or rush into anything. This backbone of the team looks strong, with a back four as good as any you’ll find outside the top tier. Daniel James and Gnonto are more than good enough to hold the wide positions, Georginio Rutter’s versatility in this regard is an exciting and largely untapped proposition, and Brenden Aaronson can also come out wide as more of a 10a than an out-and-out winger. With Mateo Joseph likely coming off his breakthrough season, Joel Piroe still able to find the net and Patrick Bamford returning to fitness in support, that should be enough to take Farke for now.