For one last time, Pascal Struijk leaves me feeling confused — Square Ball 2/7/26

Walking the plank

Written by: Rob Conlon

We’ve had a long time to prepare for Pascal Struijk leaving Leeds United. Speaking to ESPN Netherlands in January, Struijk revealed he “had some options to leave” last summer and, “from my side, there was something I would have liked to do — but that didn’t happen.” Later, when Leeds’ safety was secured, The Athletic reported that Leeds received an offer for Struijk last August they would have been tempted to accept had it not been so close to the end of the transfer window and left them scrambling around for a replacement.

So perhaps Struijk’s exit has been pencilled into the accounting books ever since. Had both the player and the club had their heads turned and eyes opened at the sums available? Leeds’ statement on the official website confirming his move to Brighton contradicts itself. On one hand, the club wanted him to stay and offered him ‘a significantly improved contract’. On the other, Paraag Marathe has warned us there were going to be outgoings and the deadline to remain PSR compliant was June 30th — the day Struijk’s sale was confirmed — with ‘the increased income (from finishing 14th and reaching the FA Cup semi-final) and single sale of Struijk ensuring the club remains within PSR limits’.

It sounds like the same old scenario of Leeds wanting to keep a player while simultaneously needing to sell them for financial reasons. Yet truthfully, it feels different. For once, it feels like it suits everybody: Leeds needed the cash, Struijk fancied a move. A handshake and an emotional Instagram video later, see ya. But that hasn’t stopped me trying to figure out how I feel about it all, only to come to the conclusion that, yet again, Pascal Struijk has left me feeling confused, questioning what I thought I knew about myself.

I didn’t want Struijk to leave. In between the club turning down a big bid in summer 2025 and agreeing to a £20m sale in summer 2026, he has enjoyed his best and most consistent season in a Leeds shirt.

It has been a recurring theme of his career to start seasons well only to peter out across the second half of a campaign. Halfway through 2022/23, he was named in the Netherlands’ provisional squad for the World Cup, only to end the season looking lost among the wreckage of Leeds’ relegation. Back in the Championship, he was a key part of United rediscovering solid ground under Daniel Farke, only for injury to rule him out of the run-in and play-off final, leaving Leeds ruing the absence of Ethan Ampadu’s bite in midfield while Ampadu was stuck at centre-back chasing the shadow of Adam Armstrong at Wembley. When becoming a champion again (ole, ole), Struijk was superb, only to once again miss the run-in through injury, meaning he wasn’t on the pitch for the parties against Stoke, Bristol City or Plymouth.

In 2025/26, however, Struijk put it all together. It wasn’t always perfect; Struijk’s weaknesses — being slow on the turn or occasionally letting his concentration slip — can be ruthlessly punished in the Premier League. But while his mistakes can encourage plenty of noise writing him off online, his general consistency gets much more quietly acknowledged. He reads the game intelligently and defends more ruggedly than his pretty-boy looks suggest, an aspect that partly gets overlooked because he has played for so long alongside Joe Rodon, who more often than not can be seen screaming at anyone and everyone while holding his bandaged head. But the steel underpinning Struijk’s quiet, calm assurance was evident in the big moments he came up with: breaking the deadlock against Sheffield United at Elland Road in the promotion season, his late brace in the delirious comeback against Sunderland, holding his nerve and converting the winning penalty at West Ham to send Leeds to an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. Pascal Struijk, I’m sure of it, is made of stronger stuff than he’s given credit for, even though he’s shown it time and time again.

Part of how I felt about Struijk leaving was going to be decided by who he left us for, which might reveal what the wider football world makes of him. But a £20m move to Brighton has only added to the confusion. Is £20m (or £18m if you listen to Brighton) good value or not? What was the offer last summer? Famed for replacing big money exits like Jan Paul van Hecke, the centre-back who has joined Spurs with one year left on his deal for £52m, with unproven young talents, why have Brighton instead turned to a player in his peak years with top-flight experience? That just so happens to be the type of player Leeds were targeting last summer, and if the signing of Harry Wilson is anything to go by, this summer too. If Leeds want more of the same, why sell a player who already fits that bill and instead take the chance of finding better, like we so spectacularly failed by ‘upgrading’ Gjanni Alioski with Junior Firpo last time around — or Max Wober in place of Struijk himself eighteen months later? Ultimately, Leeds have done all the hard work of developing a young player and sticking with him through testing times only for Brighton to be the ones who benefit, with plenty of change to spare.

For all my conflicting feelings, deep down, I know this is the ruthless reality of a club establishing itself in the Premier League, a task that often boils down to swapping stickers from a Panini album, carefully balancing improving the team against balancing the books. According to our TSB+ player ratings, only six players were better than Struijk for Leeds United last season, four of which were new signings. Crucially, the best of them all, Ethan Ampadu, has signed a new contract and committed his future to Elland Road, so perhaps selling our seventh best player to help fund improving the rest of the XI instead of our best player is a sign of progress. As much as I’ve loved watching Struijk blossom in a Leeds shirt, he should be replaceable. The worry is we know from past experience that it’s not always as easy as it sounds.