Leeds United do not have a defined transfer budget this summer without knowing who will be sold and retained.
Last summer, Leeds United sold the likes of Archie Gray, Georginio Rutter, and Crysencio Summerville due to release clauses, but they also ensured the 49ers were PSR compliant.
Of course, Daniel Farke’s side secured promotion from the Championship and the financial win for all investors concerned given the jaw-dropping promotion windfall Leeds have received.
However, amid PSR rules changing impacting Leeds, there could still be PSR sales required for Farke and the 49ers. That could mean more Archie Gray-like sales.
Photo by Isabelle Field/Plymouth Argyle via Getty ImagesLeeds could have a transfer budget of £150 million this summer
The players Leeds may yet sell to create more headroom and wiggle room financially for greater expenditure include the ones who can get them huge PSR wins. That includes academy developed players like Gray.
To make a real assault on the league, Leeds could cash in on one or two to increase their budget further, by amortising the new signings who replace them over long contracts.
The Daily Mail have revealed the latest. They state that it “would not be a surprise to see some of the bigger names offloaded just like Archie Gray was last summer in order to comply with PSR.”
A £1 billion 49ers and Red Bull plan has been outlined recently and 49ers Enterprises have issued £120 million worth of new shares to existing investors to help fund their spending plans.
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Following that, the report states Leeds are expected to spend at least this much on new players, as they state that there will be a budget of approximately £150 million for the summer transfer window.
That is because a number of outgoings are expected to create more room to spend and it would not be a surprise to see some academy players or assets with value offloaded just like Gray was last summer.
The report states that the Leeds squad will look vastly different to the group that won the Championship with 100 points by the time the Premier League season begins late into August.
Photo by George Wood/Getty ImagesThe next Archie Gray at Leeds who could make a huge PSR profit
Promotion may have given Leeds much more flexibility but the problem isn’t so simple, as Leeds have a £61 million financial issue.
Even if there has been significant Red Bull investment mooted to help plug that gap, the losses have to be offset with sales if they are to stretch it to that sort of £150 million figure of spending.
The likes of Willy Gnonto and Mateo Joseph have a book value of close to £0, meaning they could be huge financial wins.
Another in that bracket is Pascal Struijk, while Illan Meslier and Patrick Bamford have now been at the club long enough to amortise much of their respective fees.
Leeds are likely to need sales and the club will be desperate to survive and build themselves into a profitable and sustainable team by consolidating their status in the top flight.
That is especially true due to the fact Leeds haven’t posted a single year of profit since 2017.