Leeds United doing transfer business towards the end of the summer window was largely a result of slipping from the top 15 in the transfer pecking order to outside the top 100, CEO Angus Kinnear has insisted.
Daniel Farke’s side had a challenging transfer window last summer as players scrambled for the lifeboats following relegation from the Premier League.
They again came under big pressure this summer due to failing to win promotion back to the top flight and more players departed.
Leeds worked to not just replace those who left, but where possible to even strengthen on last term, however a chunk of business was done towards the end of the window.
Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, Isaac Schmidt and Ao Tanaka were all later arrivals at Elland Road.
And Kinnear delivered the hard truth of just how far Leeds have now fallen down the transfer attractiveness chart as a result of falling out of the top flight.
The CEO insists that Leeds previously could have been considered a top 15 destination, but now they are out of the top 100.
“It [late transfer business] is a function of where we sit in the pecking order”, he explained on the Square Ball.
“When Leeds were in the Premier League, I think we were probably in the top 15 clubs that people would want to join globally.
“You have basically got the big five in Europe and the top ten in the Premier League, and Leeds are in that top 15 in terms of how aspirational we are for a player to join.
“When you drop into the Championship, you’ve got the 20 clubs in the Premier League and the 20 clubs in the top four leagues across Europe who are all ahead of you in the pecking order.
“You suddenly become the 102nd, 103rd most attractive club to join and that is why the business increasingly gets done at the end of the window, because you are just waiting on those players to, and I know this doesn’t sound particularly romantic in terms of a player joining, but for them to exhaust all their other options before Leeds then become their best option in the Championship, or potentially against a 2 Bundesliga club or a Serie B club.”
Leeds saw two players use clauses in their contracts which were a hangover from relegation to secure loan exits again, with Jack Harrison joining Everton and Rasmus Kristensen heading for Eintracht Frankfurt.
