Leeds United outline clear promotion goal to help 'rebuff offers' to keep hold of £30 million key man

Leeds United are now looking over their shoulder at Ipswich Town as we approach the crunch of the 2023/24 Championship season. The Whites have been on quite the journey this season, piling the pressure on Leicester City at one point, to now hoping that their top two position won’t slip away.

Daniel Farke’s side were dealt a shock defeat at the hands of Queens Park Rangers last time out to cast doubt on their chances at automatic promotion. If Ipswich capitalise on their two games, they will knock Leeds into third and force them to battle it out in the play-offs.

Since their relegation, Leeds’ only mission has been to return to the Premier League as quickly as possible. They are still on track to achieve this, but these final games will determine whether they will rise straight up or not.

The Whites’ summer transfer business will also be heavily affected by which league they will play in next season. If they miss out on promotion, there’s a high chance they will lose some of their key players who have been attracting attention recently. However, if they return to the top flight, they stand a much better chance of negotiating with their star men to stay at Elland Road.

Ben Jacobs has provided an update on Leeds’ approach to the upcoming summer window and how positively they view their chances of keeping key personnel.

"If Leeds go up, the aim will be to keep the core of their squad together,” Jacobs told GiveMeSport. “The Leeds ownership have already had one meeting with Daniel Farke as part of their pre-summer planning. In that meeting, they have made it clear that promotion to the Premier League will afford him the ability to keep the spine of his squad together.

"Leeds are fighting to return to the Premier League and the added bonus of that is, if they do so, they will be in a position to rebuff offers. If someone comes calling for Wilfried Gnonto and Leeds are in the Premier League, and they don't want to sell him, I would expect him to have learned from that original Everton saga and to handle it a lot differently."

Gnonto is one of the main players attracting attention and clubs will surely swarm Elland Road with offers once the window opens. Leeds have previously stated that they would be willing to sell the nine-goal winger for £30 million but they are eager to keep hold of him for as long as possible.