How much the Premier League’s relegated sides spent on transfers is a real eye-opener for Leeds United

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Leeds United are back in the Premier League but the hard work only starts now, as the fate of last year’s promoted sides shows.

It’s been a fantastic season for Leeds United and it ended in perfect fashion on Saturday when Daniel Farke’s side clinched the Championship title ahead of Burnley.

Leeds defeated Plymouth Argyle 2-1 on the final day down on the south coast, with Willy Gnonto levelling before Manor Solomon scored an incredible Auguero-esque winner to claim the trophy.

It means Leeds will return to the Premier League after their two-year absence as champions but, as Farke has already made clear, that will give them no advantage when August comes around.

The top flight is becoming a perilous place for newly promoted sides, as Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton all proved by being sent straight back down this past season.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
18	IpswichIpswich	35	4	10	21	35	76	-41	22
19	LeicesterLeicester	35	5	6	24	29	76	-47	21
20	SouthamptonSouthampton	35	2	5	28	25	82	-57	11

All three of them spent a lot of money on players throughout the campaign, too, which should serve as a real eye-opener to the scale of the task at hand for Leeds.

Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton’s Premier League transfer spending

Many football fans and pundits have bemoaned the lack of drama in the Premier League this season, with the title race and battle for survival both foregone conclusions for months.

All three of Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton have gone down with hardly a whimper, less than a year after earning themselves promotion.

It’s not as if they didn’t spend big money in a bid to step up, something that Simon Jordan believes twice cost Farke at Norwich City.

No, instead, all three clubs spent millions of pounds on new players.

Ipswich had by far the biggest outlay of the three sides as they brought in 16 players and were the one that put up the longest fight, though there was never any real chance of them staying afloat.

Southampton also spent a pretty penny as they recruited 20 players across the year, assembling one of the poorest squads the Premier League has ever seen.

The Saints will equal Derby County’s record-low points tally of 11 if they don’t pick up another point.

Leicester also had a pathetic campaign but at least didn’t waste quite as much cash in doing so, making just 10 signings, with two of them loans.

Leeds United have an incredibly difficult season ahead

The three relegated sides’ excessive spending over the last two transfer windows shows just how tough it is to stay in the Premier League – and money alone won’t guarantee survival.

Yes, Leeds still need to spend money in the summer. A lot of it. The squad, as it currently stands, almost certainly isn’t good enough to stay up.

But that spending can’t be wild. It must be considered and intelligent, bringing in much more Premier League experience than the three clubs managed, as well as unearthing some exciting talent.

It’s easier said than done and Farke has already warned the 49ers that they must make ‘top-class decisions’ in the summer.

Yet, you only need to look at the likes of Brighton, Fulham, Brentford, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest to see that teams coming up from the Championship are not doomed to failure.

If they do things right on the pitch and off it, they can thrive as well as survive.