Good Morning. It's Friday 23rd August, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road
Ramazani has big boots to fillLeeds have secured their fifth signing of the Summer, with former Belgium U21 Largie Ramazani joining the Whites from Almeria for a fee in the region of £10m plus a 15% sell-on clause.
He passed his TA medical, before penning a four-year contract. Unfortunately, the signing comes too late to participate against the Wendies tonight, as a work permit can take several days. He will have his work cut-out this season. Much will be expected from him, and he'll need to hit the ground running if fans are to put recent departures to the back of their minds.
Ramazani has made over 100 appearances for Almería, across both La Liga and the Segunda Division, adding versatility, firepower and vision to Daniel Farke’s side. Much of his attacking play will be coming from the left wing in his favoured inverted winger role.
He has been given the No17 shirt, recently vacated by Jamie Shackleton; I suppose the last thing they want to do is to heap pressure on him before he starts. Whilst Ramazani represents a decent signing, the club need to follow it up with at-least three or four more if they are to challenge for automatic promotion.
Could calculated gamble pay-off?Leaving their transfer business to the last minute is a massive gamble for Leeds Utd, but could it pay dividends
Leeds were long overdue a clear-out; they've had far too many players leeching off the club for far too long. They've wiped millions in monthly salary payments off their ledgers, and raised over £100m in fees.
Will the 49ers plan an all-out assault on a top-two finish, or will they be content for another play-off disaster. All of this will become evident in the next seven days. Many believe Leeds are still five players shy from making a realistic top-two bid, and have left it too late in the window to add the signings necessary, and to be fair, history supports this claim.
Daniel Farke has only 13 players that have played 20 or more senior games for the Whites. Whilst he still has players that most teams in the Championship would take in an instant, the heart has been ripped out of the team. Ramazani represents good business, but a drop in the Ocean to where Leeds need to be this time next week.
