Leeds United had a season to forget in their latest Premier League campaign, having suffered relegation back to the Championship and will be keen to get to work this summer on bouncing straight back up to the top-flight.
Daniel Farke has come in as the new head coach, and has begun working behind the scenes on addressing his squad alongside Leeds’ new ownership group, 49ers Enterprises.
There have already been a number of outgoings from Elland Road, but there are likely to be plenty of other changes to personnel as well, in what Leeds fans hope is the beginning of a new era.
The first games of the season begin on August 4th in the Championship, and the Whites kick-off their first campaign back at this level in three seasons with a home clash against Cardiff City on Sunday 6th August.
Despite the amount of work that still requires attending to, excitement is building ahead of the opening weekend. The division is expected to be more competitive than ever, with a host of clubs in the hunt for top-flight football by the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
With all three newly-promoted sides surviving in the Premier League, it was Leeds, Southampton, and Leicester City who suffered the drop into the second tier – three clubs with plenty of talented players at their disposal, as well as financial might.
Who are Leeds United’s guaranteed starters?
With that in mind, we take a look at three players we expect to start on the first game of the season against the Bluebirds.
Georginio Rutter
Speaking via The Square Ball Podcast, Phil Hay has confirmed Rutter is one player who is going to stay at the club beyond September. He said: “In some instances, like with Georginio Rutter it seems to have been settled that he will be here, and barring something changing quite dramatically he will be a part of the squad in the Championship, but with some others it’s not easy to say for sure.”
Rutter staying put for Leeds is good news for Farke and his team, and Leeds’ club-record signing is likely to be playing a major role for the Whites next season. It should be expected that there is a position for him in the starting XI somewhere against Cardiff on opening day.
The 21-year-old is capable of playing as a wide forward or striker, and his versatility will be key, as well as his overall technical quality and ceiling, which should have him as one of the best players in the division, if he can fulfill the early potential shown at Hoffenheim.
Will Luke Ayling still be a starter at Leeds?
Despite the emergence of Cody Drameh as a potential option for the Whites at right-back, Farke may decide to go with a long-term servant of the club. Ayling has played for Leeds for seven years, completing over 250 games in that time.
Ayling not only has experience, but leadership as well, and if Liam Cooper doesn’t start, then Leeds’ vice-captain almost certainly will, to add some much-needed organisation and know-how at the back.
The 31-year-old could start at right-sided centre-back if he does not play at right-back, and there may well be a role for him to at least start the season in, even if Drameh makes the full-back spot his own and Leeds sign a younger right centre-back option longer-term in the coming weeks and months.
Patrick Bamford
We are a little over three weeks away from the season openers, and although Leeds are in the market for a new centre-forward, it could well be that Bamford retains a starting berth, for some continuity, whilst whoever Leeds bring in settles into life in West Yorkshire.
Should Bamford complete a full pre-season and be well engrained into Farke’s system, it would not be a surprise to see him, like Ayling, at the very least start the season as part of the first XI.
With such a quick turnaround between Farke’s arrival and the first game, he will be reliant on some of Leeds’ old guard to begin with. Leeds have been linked to Joel Piroe and Sam Surridge, but neither will have had the full Farke treatment in the way Bamford has. He could well be the main centre-forward heading into Cardiff.
