Leeds chief 'flies in for Daniel Farke talks' as sack thoughts emerge after promotion — Express 28/4/25

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Leeds boss Daniel Farke faces an uncertain future despite guiding the club to the Premier League.

By Sam Smith

Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe is reportedly flying to the UK to hold crunch talks with Daniel Farke over his future. Members of the Championship club's hierarchy are said to have privately expressed concerns over the German's ability to keep them in the Premier League next season, despite winning promotion from the second tier in emphatic fashion.

Marathe, chairman of the San Francisco 49ers Enterprises consortium that owns the Elland Road outfit, is expected to attend Leeds' Championship match against Bristol City tonight. He has flown in from San Fransisco and will watch the match, which could put Leeds into first place in the Championship and onto a staggering 97 points. According to the Guardian, Marathe will meet with Farke later this week as part of his trip.

Speculation around Farke's future emerged last week. It has been widely claimed that some of the roughly 100 investors in the San Francisco 49ers Enterprises consortium harbour doubts over whether the 48-year-old can keep Leeds in the Premier League next season.

Leeds have huge ambitions to be a top-10 club and have plans to expand Elland Road's capacity to 56,500. However, Farke's Premier League record is underwhelming. He won just six of the 49 top-flight games in which he managed Norwich, failing to survive relegation in 2019-20 before being sacked in November 2021 after guiding the club to promotion at the first attempt.

This year's promotion was the third of Farke's career in England, but there are reportedly concerns that he is yet to prove his ability at the top level. Part of Marathe's meeting with the former Borussia Monchengladbach boss will involve hearing how the head coach will approach a season in the Premier League.

Farke has overseen a remarkable campaign, even if Leeds are beaten to the Championship title by Burnley. Wins in their remaining two matches will take them to a century of points.

Should they reach the 100-point milestone, Farke will have won 190 points over his two seasons in charge. Leeds were beaten 1-0 by Southampton in last year's play-off final but they are now swapping divisions with the Saints.

Surviving in the Premier League following promotion has become a tougher task than ever. The six teams promoted in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons have all suffered relegation in their first season. This year is the earliest that all three relegation spots have been confirmed, with Southampton joined by Leicester and Ipswich.

Leeds, who backed Farke despite his failure to win promotion last season, are determined to remain in the Premier League. The huge financial rewards of doing so can help them expand Elland Road.

Farke still has two years remaining on his contract and the report claims that he will be owed 12 months of his salary in compensation if he is dismissed.

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