Good Morning. It's Wednesday 21st July, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Leeds preparing bid for Swedish star
Swedish news outlet Expressen have revealed that Leeds are one of five Premiership clubs (Newcastle, Brentford, Wolves, Palace and ourselves) to be preparing a bid for Swedish International midfielder Jens Cajuste. The 21 year old currently applies his trade at Danish outfit FC Midtjylland, but a recent development suggests he may be on the move. He was dropped from the squad who drew 1-1 at Celtic in their second round European qualifier on Tuesday night, suggesting a move could be imminent!
Cajuste is an aggressive, tough tackling box to box midfielder. One report even claimed the 21yo 'collects yellow cards like they are going out of fashion'. Ligue 1 club Rennes have apparently had an offer rejected around 8.5m, but the three times Danish Superliga Champions are holding out for more!
Leeds ranked 36th in the World!
Leeds United have been ranked 36th in the latest Global Club Soccer Rankings, ahead of Roma, Lazio, Villa and Everton. Unsurprisingly Manchester City topped the list, with Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Barcelona and Liverpool in hot pursuit. Bottom of this list in 636th place is Scunthorpe Utd! The data has been calibrated by statistical analysis giants FiveThirtyEight by estimating how many goals each team will score, against the amount they are predicted to concede. Leeds have an offensive rating of 2.1 while the defensive level is 0.8 which leads to an overall SPI score of 74.9.
In other words, Leeds are the 36th best side in the World!
Leeds take advantage of School of Sport facility at Leeds Beckett
Leeds Utd journalist Phil Hay has detailed how Leeds have taken a more scientific view this pre season by taking advantage of the new £45m 'School of Sport' facility at the Leeds Beckett University.
Andy Jenkinson is Leeds performance nutritionist. He will monitor the players physical and mental output, which the club’s medical staff will use to get the most out of the players for the forthcoming season. Specialist analysis of joints and muscles should allow the medical staff at Elland Road to gauge more accurately the risk of injury. Leeds have already spent 1.5m overhauling the pitch this summer, replacing all the drainage and lower layers, which should also reduce the risk of injury.
Don't worry about players fitness though. Bielsa is demanding double and triple training sessions, evening finishes and plenty of murderball thrown in.
