It rumbled on for a while, but Leeds United have finally announced that Daniel Farke is their new manager ahead of the 2023/24 Championship season. The German, who last managed Borussia Monchengladbach, is now tasked with trying to return the Elland Road outfit back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but it won’t be straightforward, with many good teams competing in English football’s second tier.
As most people will expect, and what is commonly the case with teams just relegated from the Premier League, Leeds will begin the new campaign as one of the early promotion favourites according to English football betting markets, and this is largely based on their apparent spending power, thanks to parachute payments, and the players they have on their books. But Daniel Farke’s arrival could well have strengthened their claims further.
Farke, 46, is a man who knows all about the Championship. And, more crucially, he knows all about getting promoted from the division. During his time at Norwich City, Farke guided the club to the Championship title in 2018/19. And after being relegated the following season from the Premier League, he again got them promoted as champions, immediately bouncing back from the disappointment in 2020/21. So, in the situation Leeds United find themselves in, Farke is well-versed and could prove to be the perfect hire.
Aside from the man in the dugout, much of Leeds’ chances of an instant return to the top flight will come down to transfers in and out of the club. And, more than likely, it will depend more on who remains at Elland Road rather than who joins. They have enough quality in their ranks already to mount a promotion push under a manager who knows who to get teams from the second tier to the top level, but the better players are already being linked with moves away, so the level of quality could have reduced between now and the star of the campaign.
The two players who have left already who played key roles for Leeds, especially last term, are Robin Koch, who has joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan, and Weston McKennie, who has returned to parent club Juventus after his loan spell at Elland Road came to an end. The returning Diego Llorente and others such as Rasmus Kristensen, Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson and Jack Harrison have been tipped to follow Koch and McKennie out of the exit door, but that remains to be seen.
Leeds have the manager, they currently have the nucleus of players, and they have spending power. More first-team players will likely leave, but if they can be replaced, it could help Leeds balance the books without there being too much of a significant compromise where quality is concerned. Get all that right, especially with the huge support the club will have backing the team home and away all season, and Leeds undoubtedly have a real chance to stake a claim for automatic promotion.
