Leeds United are quickly putting plans in place for the summer transfer window with reports stating Daniel Farke has reached a decision with the club over the futures of loan quartet Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca, Brenden Aaronson and Ian Poveda.
The Whites are the form team in English football right now, going through 2024 unbeaten so far and having won 11 of their 12 league games this calendar year to surge into automatic promotion contention. What was once a 17-point gap behind runaway leaders Leicester can be reduced to nothing with Leeds knowing a win over Millwall at Elland Road on Sunday will guarantee themselves top spot.
And while nothing can be taken for granted in this most remarkable of seasons in the Championship, Leeds will now be many people’s favourites to secure themselves a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Following their demise from the top flight last season, the Whites saw a plethora of their big name stars depart Elland Road, many of whom exploited relegation loan clauses in their deals to secure moves elsewhere.
To that end, the likes of Kristensen, Roca, Robin Koch, Max Wober and Aaronson were among those quickly out the door once relegation was confirmed, while the likes of Jack Harrison, Sam Greenwood and Luis Sinisterra – the latter of which has already made his move to Bournemouth permanent – also departed late in the window.
And with the current campaign entering the business stages, Leeds know they face several major decisions on all 13 of their players currently out on loan.
However, according to the latest reports, Leeds have now reached a decision on four of these ahead of the summer window.
Farke, Hammond decide to offload four Leeds loanees
Discussions on the player side of things at Elland Road will be decided by director of football Nick Hammond, who has undisputely done a cracking job since stepping into what was a difficult situation at the club last summer.
In negotiating the exits of several stars, it was Hammond who brought in the likes of Ethan Ampadu – a £7m bargain from Chelsea – as well as Joe Rodon, Glen Kamara, Ilia Gruev and Joel Piroe – four signings who have galvanised Leeds this season. Sam Byram was the choice of Farke, while Hammond also helped secure the deal to bring Jaidon Anthony the other way from Bournemouth after Sinisterra’s agent made a late push to get his client out of the club.
And with Hammond sticking around to oversee the 2024 summer window at Leeds, the Whites have tried to get ahead of the curve by holding talks already over the future of a quartet of their loanees.
First up, it’s already been decided that Poveda, who joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan in January, will not be handed a new deal and has now played his last game for the club.
While no secret, TEAMtalk sources have confirmed that there will be no way back for the Colombia international at Elland Road.
As a free agent, he is expected to either sign permanently with the Owls, or potentially could yet make a fellow free-transfer switch to Birmingham and depending on which club offers him the more attractive deal.
Both sides are currently both embroiled in a furious fight to stay in the Championship.
Football Insider, meanwhile, reports that another loanee, Kristensen, has had it communicated to him that the club plan to accept offers for his services this summer.
Leeds reach surprise decision on Brenden Aaronson future
The Denmark international joined Leeds from RB Salzburg in a deal just shy of £10m and was a mainstay of the side who crashed out of the Premier League.
Departing for Roma, the 26-year-old has had a mixed time of things in the Italian capital, and it remains uncertain if they will take up an option to make his stay permanent.
However, Leeds have reportedly told the 20-times capped Denmark international there is no way back for him at Elland Road and they will look to offload him this summer, whether to Roma or elsewhere.
It’s also reported that the same message has been communicated to Aaronson, though that news may come as more of a surprise given the reports that Leeds did consider his loan recall in January.
Ultimately that never came around, with the USA star seeing out the campaign with loan club, Union Berlin.
However, having come in for criticism with the Bundesliga side, and having scored just one goal in 29 appearances, it seems unlikely they will look to sign him permanently.
Farke, though, has reportedly decided that there will be no role at Leeds for the player next season, regardless of what division they are in, and will look to offload the player.
Having cost £25m, Leeds will likely take an enormous hit on that initial investment if they do sell, though another loan away looks possible too. Either way, it will now be left in the hands of his agent to secure his client another club.
