Former England striker Darren Bent has delivered his verdict on Leeds United’s promotion hopes following another torrid summer.
Despite Paraag Marathe’s claim that Leeds would be in a better position than 12 months ago to hit the ground running at the start of the season, it very much feels like deja vu.
Leeds have lost arguably their three best players in Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter, and now have just two weeks to replace them.
Results and performances on the pitch have hardly helped matters, either, with a frustrating 3-3 opening day draw with Portsmouth followed by a humiliating Carabao Cup exit to Middlesbrough.
It was the poor start to the campaign a year ago which ultimately cost Leeds promotion, and it would appear the 49ers have not learned from those mistakes.
- READ MORE: Leeds United could make official bid for ‘unstoppable’ attacker after selling Georginio Rutter
Bent makes Leeds promotion prediction
Despite losing three of their biggest stars, Daniel Farke still boasts a squad of players who many other managers at this level would love.
Brenden Aaronson, Dan James, Joel Piroe, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon and Junior Firpo have all cost Leeds significant amounts of money in the last three years, more than most Championship clubs could afford.
Having said that, in comparison to last season, the squad is significantly weaker and so with Burnley and Sheffield United looking very strong, Leeds are already falling behind.
Speaking on talkSPORT, though, pundit Bent believes Leeds are still more than good enough to be promoted with some of the players at Farke’s disposal.
He said: “Yeah of course they are. But I think a lot of it [that’s going wrong], is pressure. You’ve got think Leeds are by some distance, the biggest club in the Championship.
“With that comes pressure, and when you look at the players in the squad, people will think every time they play against Leeds, they want to beat them because they’re expected to go back up, and rightly so.
“When you look at the squad, they’ve got Meslier, he was there under Bielsa. They’ve got Ethan Ampadu, good player. Jayden Bogle, who they brought in. Joe Rodon from Spurs, Dan James international, Aaronson who missed that chance.
“They’ve still got Bamford who can score goals, and they’ve got Gnonto. I know Georginio looks like he’s going, but they’ve got players in the squad where you go, you should be able to go up.”
- READ MORE: The 49ers have made embarrassing mistake at Leeds United which they are now being made to pay for
Leeds’ season rests on the next two weeks
It may sound like an overreaction, but Leeds’ season entirely depends on who they are able to bring in over the next couple of weeks.
Granted, Leeds have one of the most expensively assembled squads in the division, but it has lost too much quality in Gray, Summerville and Rutter not to be replaced.
The pressure is already on Farke from the fans, and a couple of poor results against West Brom and Sheffield Wednesday, as well as some inadequate signings, could turn things very toxic.
This is undoubtedly the biggest amount of pressure the 49ers have been under since completing a full takeover last July.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
