Leeds 'willing to break transfer record' to sign Traore

Good Morning. It's Thursday 17h June, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Leeds 'willing to break transfer record' to sign Traore

The Yorkshire Evening Post are reporting on speculation that Leeds are 'willing to break transfer record' to bring Wolves wide man Adama Traore to Elland Road this Summer for a reported £40m. The 25 year old power house endured an indifferent season last term; registering just two assists and netting twice in 29 appearances, nine of those from the bench! However, his immense speed, power and exceptional skill levels would not only give Leeds extra options going forward, but can you imagine when Raphinha and Traore both click into gear? We also know that Victor Orta is a massive fan of the former Barca starlet, once describing him as 'the most exciting talent in Spanish football'.

Is Traore the right kind of player for Leeds? Is £40m too much of a gamble? Will his body mass have a detrimental impact on his game as he gets older?





Leeds prioritise 55,000 Elland Road over new training ground

Leeds have scrapped plans to move their training ground from Thorp Arch to the former Matthew Murray (school) site. They will instead press forward with arrangements to improve, and increase the attendance to Elland Road to 55,000. Thorp Arch has been Leeds training ground since the days of Howard Wilkinson, and has offered first class facilities. Due to the clubs financial meltdown, Leeds had to sell their facilities, and have been renting TA ever since. The plan was to build a new state of the art training facilities close to the City Centre, and within a stones throw of Elland Road, but it makes more financial sense to increase the capacity from 37,500 to circa 55,000. A spokesman for Leeds County Council director of city development to the council's executive board said...

Following the promotion of LUFC to the Premier League and the club securing investment from the San Francisco 49ers', the club have reviewed their stadium development ambitions and want to preserve their ability to deliver an expanded 55,000-seater stadium at Elland Road, as opposed to a 50,000 seat capacity previously agreed.

It has not been revealed when they hope to start building work!





Bielsa's contract is a formality - Kinnear

During an interview on BBC Radio Leeds, Whites managing Director Angus Kinnear has revealed that Marcelo Bielsa will be staying at Elland Road next season, and the paperwork is 'just a formality'. Since arriving at LS11 in the Summer of 2018, the Argentine has chosen to commit by signing one year extensions. Last season, the paperwork was not signed until the eve of the new season; not because he was trying to renegotiate a better deal, but he doesn't like paperwork! Kinnear was quoted as saying...

Marcelo decided not to return home to Argentina this summer. Some of his coaching staff have. He wanted to stay at Elland Road, he wanted to prepare, he wanted to work with Victor and I on the transfer window and oversee, to the training ground director's delight, the training ground work that took place. As normal with Marcelo, putting pen to paper he sees as an irrelevance. It's really emotionally and psychologically where he is.

He's certainly with Leeds United for the next season. We agreed the terms several weeks ago, several months ago perhaps. The measure we use within the club is whether he is engaged, is he working on next season. He is, he's working and is incredibly diligent. I'm not sure there's any other manager in the Premier League who is taking no time off and is not leaving the training ground. That shows his commitment. I'm treating the contract as a formality.