James Marshment reveals 49ers 'desperate' to keep 'core group' of Leeds United stars - MOT Leeds News 18/7/23

By Joe Roberts

The 49ers Enterprise group are “desperate” to keep four core Leeds United stars next season as they do not have relegation release clauses in their contract, according to TEAMtalk journalist James Marshment.

Following relegation to the Championship, many Leeds players including Robin Koch and Rasmus Kristensen utilised a release clause that allowed them to leave the club on loan following the drop [Daily Mail].

However, many Leeds starters, including Wilfried Gnonto, Tyler Adams, Luis Sinisterra and Max Wober, do not have such clauses and could stay at the club if an appropriate bid is not made and make up a “core group” of potential key players who could remain.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Marshment said: “The 49ers have set a core group of players that they want to keep. There’s an advantage in some of these deals.

“Gnonto has no relegation release clause in his deal. When they signed him from Zurich last summer he was a cut-price deal and no one know the impact he would have. Thankfully, there’s no relegation release clause in that deal.

“The club previously incentivised players by offering get-out clauses should the club go down, which is what happened. But with Gnonto this was never in place.

“That’s the same for Tyler Adams, another player they desperately want to keep. There’s no relegation clause in his deal either. Leeds do have a price in mind. They bought him for £20million and value him at around £35-40million mark, so there’s no urgency to sell him given the fact that a few others have already left.

“Max Wober is another one they want to keep and there’s talk that Luis Sinisterra will also hang around.

“If they can keep those four core of players which the club will hope can push them up towards the upper echelons of the Championship.”

Both Adams and Gnonto have been heavily linked with a move away from Leeds and it seems unlikely that their 2023/24 campaigns will kick off in Yorkshire.

However, based on Marshment’s claims about their contracts, Leeds will likely sell these players for their valuation, if not very close.

Gnonto seems set for a move back up to the Premier League to either Everton or Aston Villa for a reported £18million plus add-ons [Calcio Mercato], while Adams has been linked to Villa too [The Athletic].

However, recent reports may have sullied these links. The Athletic’s Phil Hay has claimed that Leeds will likely offer Gnonto a new contract [The Square Ball Podcast], while new chairman Paraag Marathe has suggested that Adam’s Leeds future is “still fluid” as he bids to keep the American [Leeds Official Podcast].

The 49ers do not look likely to lose their best players easily and will strive to get the best deals possible for their most influential talent, but being hopeful that they will stay at the club will give Leeds fans a lot of confidence in their project and ability to run the club well.

The ownership group are keen to control their assets as much as possible, and with the relegation release clauses being absent from these players’ contracts, they hold all the cards.

But there is still plenty of time in the window. Unless the 49ers can convince the likes of Adams and Gnonto to stay at the club, they may be better off cashing in on these high-value assets to avoid disgruntled players in the squad.