Leeds fans must take Paraag Marathe at 'face value' as transfer plans revealed
Leeds United supporters must trust that Paraag Marathe is telling the truth after discussing the club's finances ahead of the summer.
That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) has become "quite problematic" for multiple clubs.
This comes after Daniel Farke made some interesting comments in the media, demanding to be backed in the summer transfer window, otherwise he would be walking through the exit doors.
While Marathe has expressed his desire to keep the manager at Elland Road, he has also detailed some of the struggles ahead financially, and some fans aren't convinced.
Paraag Marathe must be trusted over financial claims
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson delved into the Whites' finances, suggesting that Marathe is probably spot-on with his comments.
"I would take it at face value. For all of these teams, the Squad Cost Ratio is quite problematic. What are they going to do?" Borson said.
"They're going to make £138m apparently, just from the Premier League alone, right? So on top of that, they're going to have matchdays. They're trying to bolster the stadium, but that's not that's not ready yet.
"They need to they need to build up that commercial side. The commercial side has come a long way quite quickly, but there's still a long way to go.
"Wages are probably £150million for this season. Another £50million on other expenses. They've got probably £200million at the top, £150m on wages, and probably £50million on amortisation.
"You can see that their starting position is already very challenging from an SCR perspective. You have a bit of leeway, particularly in the first season, to spend more.
"In the long and short of it, I think he is being honest about the challenges that they've got with SCR. I think they will have to be conservative, but clearly, they're also going to be very keen to drive success."
Who could Leeds United sell to fund new transfers?
While Illan Meslier is expected to leave on a free transfer, his goalkeeper teammate Lucas Perri is being linked with an early move away.
In addition to the Brazilian, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Pascal Struijk, Jaka Bijol, Ao Tanaka, Dan James and Joel Piroe are all attracting interest from elsewhere.
Leeds are also expected to finally cash in on Willy Gnonto, who has struggled for game time under Farke for the past two seasons.
If the Whites want to keep Farke happy, they must find a way to fund some new deals, and any of these aforementioned names could be sacrificed in order to achieve that.