Resale value has been one of the tenets of Leeds United’s recruitment in recent years. In most cases, transfer targets need to be the right side of 25 years old if they are going to have the time to make their mark at Elland Road, develop and then move on for a bigger transfer fee elsewhere.
One look at this summer’s spending spree tells you a lot about the profile the club is pushing for: Brenden Aaronson (21), Rasmus Kristensen (25), Marc Roca (25), Darko Gyabi (18), Tyler Adams (23), Luis Sinisterra (23), Sonny Perkins (18) and Joel Robles (32). Robles’ one-year contract as a third-choice goalkeeper explains his move, but the rest all have the future in mind.
The Leicester City model has been mentioned by Andrea Radrizzani on multiple occasions, and as recently as this month. The Foxes have built a routine of acquiring talent with big potential, benefiting on the pitch, seeing them improve and then selling them for big profits.
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When it works, it’s a system which takes clubs from the lower reaches of the Premier League to the top half on a moderately sustainable footing. It’s also partly why the club are being prudent, in Jesse Marsch’s words, with the pursuit of a new striker.
A new forward has to precisely tick as many boxes as possible if they are to spend the tens of millions of pounds they had earmarked for Charles De Ketelaere, a striker who did tick all of their boxes. With youth comes inexperience and a lack of maturity in some instances and that’s something Marsch flagged on Saturday.
“At 2-1, we switched to five at the back to try and cut down their ability to attack us in what we call the half lane and we get beat out of that,” he said. “Jack [Harrison] got beat in the half lane.
“Jack’s had two fantastic games to start the season, but to tactically make that shift and get beat, that’s painful. That's the point of making tactical shifts in the match.
“Then there's a little bit of maturity. We're still a young team and that was one of the reasons why I put Adam [Forshaw] on at the end, just to help have a guy on the pitch with a little bit more experience that can help settle the game down.
“He did a really good job at that. Of course, there's a couple of changes I'm looking back on and thinking could we make those a little bit earlier and could we manipulate the game in a way with some guys off the bench, but, in the end, we're making progress.”
This team has started the season well with four points from six and put the club in a good position after what was a difficult 21/22 campaign. The transfer business has generally gone down well, but as Marsch has pointed out himself, patience will be needed when a lack of maturity plays its part.
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