The summer transfer window opens next month and Daniel Farke is expected to be given significant funds to strengthen his Leeds United side.
Reinforcements will be needed across the board if the Whites are to thrive in the Premier League. Expect plenty of incomings but some outgoings in a busy summer of player recruitment at Elland Road as United look to balance the books to ensure they remain within the confines of profitability and sustainability regulations.
The step up in quality between the top divisions has grown bigger in recent years. The last six promoted clubs have all come straight back down.
United will need to be frugal in the market, but are there any players they could cherry-pick from the three relegated Championship clubs? Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City finished in the bottom three after miserable seasons.
LeedsLive has taken a look at players the Whites could potentially target from those clubs:
Thomas Kaminski – Luton Town goalkeeper
Signed for Luton from Blackburn in the summer of 2023 and has been a regular since then. Kaminski has just won Luton’s Player of the Season. At 32, the Belgian still has plenty of years left and that may be an area for depth this summer.
The goalkeeping department looks an obvious position that the Whites need to strengthen this summer. Farke dropped Illan Meslier from the starting XI towards the back end of the 2024/25 season after a number of costly errors. Meslier’s future remains up in the air and Karl Darlow, United’s new No 1, still has his detractors, despite helping them win the title. Third-choice shot-stopper Alex Cairns has not played a single match since returning to the club.
Maksym Talovierov – Plymouth Argyle centre-back
Became Plymouth’s record signing when he joined from Austrian club LASK Linz late in January, with a reported fee of about £1.7m. Was superb in 11 appearances, scoring twice, before a knee injury derailed his season and Argyle’s hopes of staying up.
Pilgrims boss Miron Muslic said: “Maksym is a commanding presence who will add height and physicality to the side, but he is also good on the ball and technically good. Most importantly, he is a good defender.”
Given Pascal Struijk and Max Wober’s injury issues in the past two years, United need more cover and competition at centre-back.
Thelo Aasgaard – Luton Town midfielder
Luton had the cash to outmuscle Championship rivals when they swooped for Aasgaard from Wigan for about £3m in January and the Liverpool-born Norway midfielder proved a central figure as they found form which made staying up a realistic prospect.
Matt Bloomfield told The Luton News recently: “Thelo has been fantastic for us, he’s been a real good investment for our football club, I believe he’s going to go on and have a top career. He’s going to be a top player, I’ve said it for a number of years in League One that he can make the step up.
“Athletically, he was running away from people as well, which is not easy to do when you step up the level. He’s going to be a top player, and I hope he’s going to be here for many years too and help drive this club forward. He’s a player of considerable football intelligence.
“He’s really spatially aware, he knows when he needs to bump a player and protect the ball, he knows when he’s got a minute to do his magic and get away from someone. He’s been a top performer in the division below, he’s played in this division before and I have real belief that he will go and step up. He’s a boy that we believe can have a real big future for us. We can’t heap too much on him, but on the evidence, he’s doing just fine.”
Mustapha Bundu – Plymouth Argyle forward
Out of contract this summer, the powerful forward scored 11 goals in all competitions in 2024/25 and set up another seven and will be attracting no shortage of interest. The 28-year-old looked lively in their final day loss to United.
Muslic told PlymouthLive: “On a personal level I think he was brilliant. I have a reputation of being capable to develop players, and his development the last four months was outstanding, even today. I think Mustapha Bundu has qualities and you know my opinion about him.”
Yousef Salech – Cardiff City striker
The 6ft 5ins striker scored nine times in 22 games after joining from Swedish club Sirius in January for a fee believed to be between £3-4m.
Cardiff caretaker Aaron Ramsey said: “There’s always going to be interest in players of his quality. That’s part of football. He showed again what he’s capable of doing. He’s a fantastic player and he’s only going to get better.
“Some of the goals he’s scored, and it’s not just that, it’s what he does off the ball, that effort he puts in is not to be sniffed at. He’s a serious player who’s only going to get better.”
