Leeds United boss reveals ‘Champions League’ argument which convinced Rasmus Kristensen to join - YEP 23/8/22

Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch referred to the club’s sales pitch when discussing Rasmus Kristensen’s move to Elland Road

By Joe Donnohue

Leeds United’s start to the 2022/23 Premier League campaign has seen the Whites record two wins and a draw in the opening three matches.

A 2-2 draw with Southampton was sandwiched between victories at Elland Road over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea.

Jesse Marsch and the board’s summer additions have bedded into the starting XI comfortably if the Premier League table is anything to go by, with Leeds currently sitting in joint-third place behind Arsenal and Manchester City, level with Tottenham Hotspur.

The club’s position among the Champions League places is unlikely to hold for the rest of the campaign, but crucially gives Leeds a platform to work from and should ensure they avoid a similar run-in with relegation as they did last season.

Rasmus Kristensen is just one of Leeds’ summer signings who turned down the prospect of further Champions League football in order to seal a move to Elland Road.

The Danish international featured prominently for perennial Austrian champions FC Red Bull Salzburg in Europe’s premier club competition last term, alongside fellow Whites teammate Brenden Aaronson, and was reportedly a target for German giants Borussia Dortmund.

Similarly, new defensive midfield duo Tyler Adams and Marc Roca both featured in the Champions League for RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, respectively.

Speaking ahead of Sunday afternoon’s historic triumph versus Chelsea, Marsch revealed part of the club’s sales pitch to prospective new signings – in particular those giving up European football for Elland Road.

"Even when we're recruiting, we say, ‘okay, you can go to a Champions League club, or you can play Champions League [standard] every week, and that's what this league is,’” Marsch said.

"He [Kristensen] said to me, ‘I feel like I was making 10, 15, 20 impactful moments per match at Salzburg [in the] Champions League, in the league, whatever. And here it's hard for me to make one or two or three’.

"I said ‘yeah, the level’s big’ and he agrees, he thinks even the opponents we've had [so far] that the level’s been above Champions League in the demands, which says a lot about the league,” Marsch added, describing Kristensen’s adaptation to England’s top flight.