‘Worrying Leeds stadium claim made following transfer warning’
Leeds United have been issued with a stark warning over future stadium plans and told what they must do in this transfer window to ensure that plan stays on track.
Daniel Farke guided Leeds back to the Premier League for the first time in two seasons as they clinched the Championship title on the final day of the campaign.
The West Yorkshire club will face Everton at home on the opening weekend of the season after the Premier League fixtures were revealed.
Their first away match of the campaign will see them travel to London to face title hopefuls Arsenal.
Surviving in the top flight has proved difficult for promoted clubs over the past two seasons and Leeds have been issued with a warning over future plans.
Former manager makes verdict over stadium expansion
Speaking to talkSPORT (19 June, 9:15am) former Leeds defender and manager David O’Leary has stated what the club must do in this summer transfer window to be able to proceed with future stadium plans.
The club have unveiled plans to increase the capacity at Elland Road with 26,000 supporters currently on their season ticket waiting list.
O’Leary believes in order for the club to go ahead with those plans they must avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
“Leeds is a Premier League club, with a great fanbase, and a great history about them and they’ve got to invest because if they want to build a new stadium the only way a new stadium is going to be built is by staying in the Premier League,” O’Leary said.
“It is a club that needs to stay up for its future.”
| Club | Stadium capacity | Rank |
| Chelsea | 40,834 | 10th |
| Leeds | 37,890 | 11th |
| Wolves | 31,700 | 12th |
Investment doesn’t guarantee success
Football Insider verdict
In order to advance forward as a football club with these ambitious stadium plans, it is vital Leeds invest well this summer to stand a chance of staying in the Premier League.
Being able to increase the capacity of Elland Road from around 37,000 to 53,000 supporters would hugely benefit the football club from a financial perspective.
Farke has already signed Lukas Nmecha from Wolfsburg on a free transfer and is fighting hard to secure the signature of Spurs’ Manor Solomon.
Football Insider revealed last month Leeds will have £150million to spend in this transfer window and they have already had a huge bid turned down by Fulham for striker Rodrigo Muniz.
The Whites clearly mean business, but as the three promoted clubs last season proved spending lots of money doesn’t guarantee success.
Both Ipswich and Southampton spent over £100m in transfers last summer (BBC Sport) and both were immediately relegated back to the Championship, with the Saints collecting just 12 points.