Leeds United’s recruitment – and the players Farke fought to keep – is paying off – The Athletic 11/10/23

By Phil Hay

So many footballers have that annoying knack of being naturally good at more than just football. Some of Paul Gascoigne’s old school teachers remember him picking up a tennis racquet and looking like he had been on the courts for years, as proficient as any of his contemporaries despite having never handled one before.

It was not quite excellence to that extreme on Saturday as Archie Gray gave right-back a whirl in Leeds United’s win over Bristol City, but Gray’s command of an unfamiliar position explained the hype around him. The 17-year-old is one of those players for whom no one is setting limits. He is off for England Under-19 duty this week, having missed his last call-up because of concern at Leeds about the physical demands on him. There is only so much holding-back the club can do.

“I’d love to put him in cotton wool,” said United’s manager, Daniel Farke, “but we have to respect that there are bigger ambitions. We can’t hide him away each and every time. We’d prefer that he is called up for the proper Three Lions, but that’s a bit too soon.” Though somewhere down the line, it is not unlikely on the evidence of Gray’s talent so far.

Gray at right-back was not a wild experiment because he has played there at youth level, domestically and internationally. Farke’s rationale was that he thought Gray’s pace and technical ability would make him better suited to Saturday’s game than Luke Ayling, giving him the upper hand in a head-to-head with the tricky Sam Bell. But the strength of Gray’s performance with limited time to prepare told another story: about the way in which Leeds mapped out their recruitment in the summer and, without covering every single base entirely, did a good job of getting it right.

Against Bristol City, Farke was able to play Gray as a full-back without compromising his team on the right side of the defence. He was able to use Gray in that way without compromising the centre of his midfield either because Leeds finally have an adequate headcount in that part of the pitch. He was able to fill the right-back slot without dragging a very competent left-back, Sam Byram, away from his usual role and weakening the team down the left as a result. Gray moving out of midfield and Glen Kamara stepping in to good effect is the dream ticket for a coach: options which interchange without bringing the house of cards down.

It will not always be as smooth as that and Farke found at Southampton, where Leeds were picked apart too easily, that his squad are some way short of being bulletproof, but Southampton, after 11 games, is the sore thumb in a streak of matches which have made United look suitably sure of themselves. It is one defeat in nine for Farke, a run yielding 18 points and five clean sheets. There is a good trend developing of Leeds squeezing results from games which require some patience and persistence, a team who look happy with the system they are using.

Farke, from the day of his appointment in July, was allowed to stamp his own mark on the squad, a manager with the authority to call the shots. Part of the proof of that is that three of the players Leeds talked about selling in the summer window — Pascal Struijk, Illan Meslier and Crysencio Summerville — are among those who have played the most minutes under him. Club Bruges were keen on Struijk, Burnley made a last-minute offer for Summerville and Meslier was the subject of a few enquiries, including one from Celta Vigo, but the arrival of Farke altered their plans.

Farke wanted Leeds to keep all three players and made sure they did. Very quickly, they were moved off the list of prospective exits. Farke has been so committed to Meslier that the other goalkeeper he signed, Karl Darlow, has not played a minute in the Championship yet.

There was also a willingness on United’s part to let Farke return to old favourites. He went back to Norwich City for defender Max Aarons, albeit with frustrating results, and took Sam Byram on a free transfer after his release from Carrow Road despite reservations at Elland Road about Byram’s injury record. He would have signed midfielder Kenny McLean, too, had Norwich not refused to entertain a sale. So many of the bigger clubs in England operate like this: recruitment is managed by dedicated staff but final decisions rest on the manager’s say-so. Struijk, Summerville and Meslier stayed on because Farke was not willing to see them sold.

Nonetheless, it took plenty of pairs of hands and plenty of voices to make the window work. Gretar Steinsson, Leeds’ technical director, was the key influence in persuading Swansea City to sell Joel Piroe for £10.5million ($12.9m). Calls made direct to Swansea’s ownership, rather than to their recruitment department, set the wheels in motion. Angus Kinnear, Leeds’ CEO, was able to use a good relationship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy to make loans for Joe Rodon and Djed Spence happen — Rodon’s from a starting point of Spurs asking for a permanent bid in the region of £15m.

Nick Hammond, United’s interim transfer consultant, worked through the summer on a short-term contract, along with a colleague of his, the ex-QPR player Gary Penrice. Penrice, formerly Celtic’s head of recruitment, came on board to help with the tangled process of players moving in and out of Elland Road. Hammond’s consultancy period ended with the closure of the transfer window, but the ownership at Leeds valued his work and his role in the recruitment of Farke as manager. Recent discussions have taken place about renewing Hammond’s contract, a deal which would ensure he and Penrice are on the scene for the next two transfer windows.

As it stands, Leeds’ requirements in January are unlikely to be vast. The overhaul of their squad after relegation from the Premier League moved Farke to the point of having two credible options for each position, give or take a couple of exceptions.

Junior Firpo has not played this season and there remains the question of how Leeds would cope at left-back if Byram’s body was to let him down. Their aborted bid for Bayer Leverkusen’s Nadiem Amiri in August was a hint that Farke would like more depth at No 10, but Firpo is due back after the international break and neither Djed Spence nor Willy Gnonto are a mile away from recovering from injury. The days when Farke was naming two keepers on the bench feel a long way behind him already.