Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has discussed the financial impact for Leeds United if they get promoted to the Premier League.
The Whites are currently sitting top of the Championship table, six points ahead of third-placed Brentford with just five matches left to play (per BBC).
However, with matches currently being played behind closed doors (via Independent), the financial impact of that for EFL clubs is not fully known yet (via BBC).
So, in the latest episode of The Price of Football Podcast, Maguire discussed the financial impact for Marcelo Bielsa’s side if they were to be promoted.
He said: “They do have another benefit in the sense that normally when a club goes up into the Premier League, everybody’s aware of it and will try to take it to the cleaners when it comes to player sales and player purchases, because, ‘Oh, you’re getting this extra money, well…’. Leeds [are] going into a buyer’s market.
“Clearly, Bielsa will have identified the players he wants and if perhaps he was looking to get four players for £100m, you can probably now get six.
“So I think they will be in a very strong position. They’ll be able to get rid of the players who are out of contract, who they no longer want. Some of the existing squad will have step-ups as a result of being promoted, but they won’t necessarily then be able to get a new contract on top of the step-up in their existing contract.
“I do think that they are in a strong position. It’s a horrible word, they’re a very good ‘brand’ from a footballing perspective and, therefore, this could give them an advantage.
“I wouldn’t say [they have an advantage] against all of the clubs in the Premier League, because the gap between the ‘big six’ and the rest is an ever-increasing chasm, but I think they will be in a very solid position from a financial perspective.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the finance expert had to say, it is clear that he believes that Leeds will be in a good position if they get promoted to the Premier League. And, the fact that he suggests Leeds could now go out and sign six instead of four players should they gain promotion is a really exciting prospect,
Do you believe that Leeds will seal promotion to the Premier League this season?Yes, it's going to happen
No, not going to happen
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With their six-point cushion in the automatic promotion places (per BBC), with five games remaining, it seems probable that the Elland Road outfit will be making a return to the top flight.