Leeds United's contract success highlighted as dozen players commit to long-term Elland Road future - YEP 2/8/22
Leeds United have extended the contracts of young trio Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Crysencio Summerville
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds have secured the long-term futures of some of their
most exciting young players this week with the confirmation that Joe Gelhardt,
Sam Greenwood and Crysencio Summerville have agreed to extend their stays at
Elland Road.
The talented trio all arrived in the summer of 2020 and have
since broken into the first-team setup under Jesse Marsch, playing an
increasing role in pre-season ahead of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.
Gelhardt’s extension sees him commit his future to Leeds
until 2027, while Greenwood and Summerville have both signed until 2026.
In doing so, Leeds have issued a marker to their other young
players, and perhaps even those tempted by the prospect of a Leeds switch.
Opportunities have been forthcoming after leading displays
at reserve level and the reward of new contracts is reflective of their growing
importance in the United dressing room.
The term ‘statement of intent’ is bandied about frequently
in modern football’s vernacular, but managing to persuade three youth
internationals who each look set for breakout top flight campaigns, to commit
to long-term deals is a significant one.
Not least because teams looking to poach the burgeoning
youngsters will be forced to part with increasingly eye-watering sums to break
them out of their United deals.
Leeds now have 12 first-team members contracted to the club
until 2026-or-later, with five players on five-year deals.
They include Patrick Bamford, Illan Meslier, the
aforementioned Gelhardt, Greenwood and Summerville, as well as fresh-faced
quintet Marc Roca, Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Rasmus
Kristensen.
A spine of talented, internationally-experienced,
predominantly young, players have made it clear they wish to progress their
careers at Leeds, which is difficult to interpret in anything but a positive
light.
In addition to the group listed above, young defenders Leo
Hjelde and Charlie Cresswell – the latter currently on loan at Millwall in the
Championship – are both contracted until 2025.
Leeds are planning for a Premier League future and those on
the longest deals are likely to be the protagonists of the club’s evolution
under Jesse Marsch.
Rarely has a Leeds United squad over the past two decades
been built with the distant future so clearly in mind.
