Leeds United: £200million transfer exits plus £100million 'safety net' lined up for relegation - Phil Hay - MOT Leeds News 8/5/23

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By George Overhill

Leeds United have an eye on up to £300million to soften the blow of a potential relegation from the Premier League, according to The Athletic.

Sam Allardyce now has just three games remaining to save the Whites from leaving the top flight after as many seasons back, but plans are in place to avoid the catastrophic fate the club befell after the last drop in 2004.

While there will be major negative consequences, with the 49ers takeover thrown up in the air, and a daunting cost still on the horizon via the on-appeal Jean-Kevin Augustin ruling, a squad ripe for sales and three years of parachute payments would form the contingency plan if Leeds United finish in the bottom three.

The Athletic report from Phil Hay and Adam Crafton said: “While the club’s recruitment model has been criticised this season, Leeds have not signed an outfield player aged over 25 during the past two years, with insiders believing that around £150m-200m worth of players could be sold if necessary to release funds to reshape a squad for the Championship.”

On the subject of parachute payments the report says: “Relegated clubs get 55 per cent of the central distribution that every Premier League club receives in their first season in the EFL and 45 per cent in year two. Clubs that have been in the Premier League for more than one season qualify for a final payment in year three at 20 per cent.

“This should provide Leeds with a safety net worth around £100million spread over the three years.”

While not the only two factors, the many millions are set to make a potential relegation far less painful than the last, with The Athletic noting: “In the cold light of day, therefore, relegation should not be anywhere near as damaging as the club’s last demotion from the top flight in 2004, but it would amount to bruised egos and missed opportunities.”

It is impossible to dress relegation up as a positive, but it is a small mercy that falling back into the second tier shouldn’t mean the same sentence that saw Leeds United gone from the top flight for a generation.

Having a financial cushion doesn’t mean the club would be straight back though, and the set up which won promotion last time has changed a great deal, with the likes of Marcelo Bielsa, Victor Orta, Kalvin Phillips, Ezgjan Alioski and Pablo Hernandez all gone.

Supporters might rightly point out that in some cases, such as club-record signing Georginio Rutter, having a quality contributor who was available to help avoid the drop in the first place would be much more preferable than a saleable asset to flog after going down.

But if Big Sam can build on a slightly-encouraging first game against Manchester City then Andrea Radrizzani might just get away with it.

Staying in the Premier League, having the 49ers buy-out go through, and generally learning the lessons of the long list of missteps, this year and last, would be the ideal outcome at this stage.

But with 270 minutes of football left to play and the relegation battle far from over the short-term future is hanging in the balance right now.

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