Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear has delivered a transfer update following the release of the new Championship fixtures.
Talking to Sky Sports News (Thursday, 10am), Kinnear said he had “absolute confidence” in the current squad but that they would try to strengthen where possible.
“We’re very confident in the squad we’ve got. They came very close. We believe they deserved to go up so we have absolute confidence, but as always we’re looking for opportunities to strengthen. If those opportunities come along we’d take them.”
Kinnear went on to say that his club had already completed “the most significant signing” after manager Marcelo Bielsa confirmed he was staying for another season.
“It wasn’t a difficult conversation,” Kinnear said. “He’s committed, he knows there’s unfinished business. He’s disappointed that we just fell short last season but he has absolutely the belief that he knows precisely what to do to make sure we get it right this year.”
TIF VERDICT
Leeds fans aren’t going to like the sound of this. There’s plenty of time left in the summer transfer window but his “absolute confidence” comment goes against what manager Marcelo Bielsa said after last season finished. After taking pretty much the same squad that finished 13th in the 17/18 Championship to the brink of promotion last season, Bielsa said those players would be unlikely to be able to replicate the feat again. As quoted in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Bielsa said: “You won’t find a single player in our team who would be able to reproduce the same level of performance in another season because we’ve been very demanding with them. They’ve given everything and they have figures I’m checking all the time which show what I’m saying is true. The players won’t be able to reproduce the levels they have shown in another season.” Given that, you have to think that new signings are essential and fans will be hoping Kinnear’s words aren’t a warning about the business Leeds will do in the next 6-7 weeks. One thing he said which is spot on, though, is that Leeds have already completed the “most significant” signing of the summer. Getting Bielsa to stay for another season was a major coup and has led to Leeds being made early favourites for the title.