Toby Wilding

Sat 12 April 2025 9:00, UK

Leeds United could exact a sweet revenge on Southampton following the Saints’ relegation from the Premier League, and solve a problem of their own in the process.

Last season ended in heartbreak for Daniel Farke’s side, as they were beaten 1-0 by the Saints at Wembley in the Championship play-off final, denying them promotion to the Premier League.

Life in the top-flight has been a disaster for Southampton though, with defeat to Tottenham on Sunday (6 April) ensuring they became the first Premier League team ever to be relegated with seven games to play.

By contrast, this has been a season for Leeds in which they have put themselves in a position where they could right their wrongs from the previous campaign, albeit with some worrying recent signs of a possible repeat.

Leeds United could leapfrog the Saints

On Wednesday (9 April) Leeds claimed a controversial 1-0 win over Middlesbrough to move back to the top of the Championship table.

With just five games of the season remaining, that ensures Daniel Farke‘s side are in a position to secure their return to the top-flight this time around.

If they were to do so, it would obviously mean they would find themselves swapping places with Southampton in their respective divisions.

Leeds had finished three points ahead of the Saints in the regular standings last season, so will have felt a huge amount of frustration at missing out on promotion against them in the play-offs.

Getting promoted while the St Mary’s outfit move in the opposite direction would therefore likely produce a significant sense of satisfaction for those connected with the Yorkshire outfit.

Now, it looks as though getting promoted would also give Leeds the opportunity to rub salt into the wounds of Southampton in the summer transfer window.

Southampton to pay to lose Aaron Ramsdale

Mick Brown has told Football Insider that ahead of next season, Leeds are already showing an interest in Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

A new first choice option between the posts will surely be high on the agenda at Elland Road once the transfer window opens at the end of this season.

Illan Meslier is facing major questions over his future at Leeds after a series of high-profile errors that have hampered his side’s attempts to win promotion this season.

Signing Ramsdale would go a long way to solving that issue for Farke’s side, and it appears the England internationals current club could even help them to do that.

Now it appears that if the goalkeeper is to leave Southampton may have to pay some of Ramsdale’s £100,000 per week plus wages, in order to avoid his options being limited.

So if Leeds were to be promoted, they could be in a position to not only swap places with the Saints, but also poach one of their rivals’ best players while having them help to fund the deal.

After the disappointment of missing out on promotion to Southampton last season, such a turnaround on and off the pitch would represent a significant amount of revenge for the Elland Road club.

With that in mind, there may now be more incentive than ever for Leeds to find a way to get themselves over the line in the battle for promotion to the Premier League in the coming weeks.