Revealed: Big Leeds & West Brom update after £5m+ deal green light
Leeds United and West Brom have been given a major promotion boost after the EFL gave the green light for a £5million-plus coronavirus testing programme, Football Insider understands.
The governing body is pressing ahead with plans to restart the Championship campaign behind closed doors next month.
The English second tier clubs are facing a joint bill of more than £5m – equivalent to £208,000 for each club – to regularly test all the players for Covid-19 for the rest of the season.
The EFL have agreed a deal with Hong Kong-based company Prenetics to provide testing kits.
The cost is set to be £1m more than the Premier League as the Championship needs to test more players at more clubs.
In addition, the division has 16 more regular-season matches left, plus the play-offs.
The 24 Championship clubs agreed restart plans at a meeting on Wednesday that followed an EFL board meeting.
Their intention is to complete the season and avoid a potential legal minefield around promotion and relegation if the campaign ends early but the Premier League plays to a conclusion.
A target restart of 6 June has been discussed but clubs still anticipate a more likely 13 June date, in line with the Premier League.
The testing kit deal is a huge boost to Leeds and West Brom, and the clubs below them in the promotion mix.
Leeds and West Brom are well clear at the top of the Championship with nine matches remaining.
But Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber claimed earlier this week that no team should be promoted from the second tier without completing all 46 league matches.
In other Leeds United news, it can be REVEALED that the club have had six-figure bid accepted for player in major Tottenham blow.