The newly promoted side aren’t in the mood to muck about. They’ve moved quickly and decisively to secure their preferred targets in order to give Marcelo Bielsa the best possible chance of keeping United up.
Busy
They’ve already brought in seven new faces, most of whom will be expected to contribute to the first team immediately.
Some of those are players we’re used to seeing in white. Jack Harrison will spend his third season on loan with Leeds United, Helder Costa has made his deal from Wolves permanent, as has Illan Meslier.
That core of retained players is important. Bielsa doesn’t rotate much, and he likes his preferred players to play as much football as possible. For him, keeping the core of the squad that won the Championship will be really important, as he can trust them to follow instructions and keep up their punishing levels of fitness.
Supplement
Other players being brought in are to supplement that important core. There have always been questions marks of Patrick Bamford’s ability to lead the line at the highest level and elite competition has been imported in the form of Rodrigo from Valencia.
It’s an exciting transfer for Leeds. Rodrigo has 22 caps for Spain, with eight goals, along with 30 appearance in the Champions League and 172 in La Liga.
This is a highly experienced operator, who Bielsa wants, for a big fee. We’ve seen newly promoted sides go big in the attempt to avoid relegation before, but Leeds are being extremely targeted and getting their men through the door early.
Smart
The same can be said with Robin Koch, who joined from Frieburg after it became apparent that Brighton wouldn’t allow Ben White to leave for a second campaign. Josko Gvardiol has also been linked with a move North, just days after Koch and Rodrigo signed on the dotted line.
Bielsa is as intense as they come and as unbending in his principles as they come. It’s only appropriate that Leeds’ transfer business would be the same.