Leeds United need promotion this season to avoid another summer of losing their star players.
After missing out on the top two to Ipswich Town on the final day, Leeds were then beaten 1-0 by Southampton in the play-off final to end their hopes of an immediate return to the Premier League.
As a result of that, Leeds sold key trio Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter, who helped raise over £100 million in sales between them.
A third season of Championship football would represent Leeds’ final year of parachute payments, and again needing to make sales to ensure they remain compliant with P&S.
It is also difficult to see many of those who wouldn’t necessarily generate much in transfer fees happy to stay for another year in the second tier.
How Leeds are feeling about Junior Firpo new contract
Thankfully Leeds are well set in terms of their contract situation with Junior Firpo and Sam Byram the only two players with deals expiring next summer.
Firpo is the one where a decision will need making, as Byram has so far worked on a year-to-year basis since returning to the club 15 months ago.
So far, there has been no indication of what way Leeds will go with Firpo’s contract, though transfer expert Graeme Bailey did suggest last month promotion would make him more likely to stay.
Bailey has now provided a new exclusive update to LeedsUnited.News about Firpo’s situation, again suggesting Leeds are in no rush to make a decision, as he is on ‘really good money’.
He said: “I haven’t heard anything in particular. He’s on really good money. I don’t think they’ll be handing out a long-term contract on his current salary. He’s done pretty well this year, but his contract over his term at Leeds has probably exceeded his performances somewhat. He’s late 20s now.
“There’s more chance he stays if they go up because I think he’s a very solid performer at that level. Would they want to upgrade? Possibly. But I think it would depend on who’s interested in him.
“I think it’s one not to particularly worry about. They’ll attack it, see around easter time and you’ll have a very good idea whether you are Premier League or playoff-bound bound and they’ll probably look at it then.”
Real Betis monitoring Firpo’s Leeds situation
Ever since Leeds’ relegation into the Championship, £13m man Firpo has been linked with a move to his former club Real Betis.
Despite both Marc Roca and Diego Llorente signing for Betis in the summer, nothing has ever materialised with Firpo, who has turned into a reliable performer for Leeds.
However, Betis are already monitoring Firpo’s situation again ahead of January, when they will be able to open talks about a pre-contract agreement.
Helping Leeds win promotion to the Premier League before returning to his old club may just be the ideal scenario for all parties here.
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