Leeds United fans have been left very jealous after Sunderland’s owner, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, discussed his club’s approach to their successful summer transfer window.
Sunderland left everyone surprised in the transfer window when they spent a huge £181.6m on 14 new players ahead of their return to the Premier League.
In comparison, Leeds United spent just £108.9m (including add-ons) on 10 players, with Sunderland beating them to the likes of Noah Sidiki and Habib Diarra.
As a result, the two promoted clubs’ fortunes 10 games into the season vary massively.
The Black Cats are fourth in the Premier League table, having lost just twice and already amassing 18 points. Daniel Farke’s side, meanwhile, are down in 16th, having lost half of their games.
Leeds fans were already feeling jealous but recent comments from Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus have increased the sentiment.
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Sunderland ‘didn’t set a budget’ in the transfer window
Speaking in a rare interview for a club owner on Sky Sports this past Monday, Louis-Dreyfus opened up on his club’s approach to the summer transfer window.
He said: “I think the stats showed to us that unless you do something extraordinary, you’re likely going to go back to the Championship.
“For us, we didn’t really set ourselves a budget in terms of the money we want to spend.
“We had an ambition to try and bring in the players we want and fortunately, a lot of the deals we wanted to do we were able to conclude them.
“And as a result of that the spend in the end was big, but most importantly, we got the players that we wanted.”
Louis-Dreyfus’ words have left sections of the Leeds fanbase looking longingly at Sunderland and wishing the 49ers took a similar approach. There is also growing concern that relegation looms after Leeds didn’t do something ‘extraordinary’ themselves in the summer.
Farke demanded the owners show ambition in the transfer market and, while some good signings were made, it’s increasingly looking like they won’t be enough.
The fact that Leeds only spent money on one attacking player in Noah Okafor, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha arriving on free transfers, is particularly galling. Sunderland spent more on just one of their attackers in Simon Adingra, than Leeds did on their three forward signings.
Robbie Evans said Leeds United spent their entire budget
Sunderland did have more room to spend within PSR thanks to the sales of Jobe Bellingham and Tommy Watson, whereas Leeds only brought in a pittance with the sales of Rasmus Kristensen and Sam Greenwood.
Speaking after the transfer window, managing director Robbie Evans revealed that Leeds spent all they could in the window.
“So unequivocally, we are maxing PSR out this season, this summer,” he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “We spent everything we could.
“If we had gone onto other targets yesterday or onto higher price players back in July, the consequences would have been seen in the current roster, in terms of players we either could not add beyond the guys that got brought in – so the players that came in in August wouldn’t have come had those deals been made in July – or you’d see more key players from last year’s promotion side having to go.
“And so for us, there were only a handful of players that were worth even considering making those kinds of sales. And when those top players didn’t materialise, we held on to our key players instead.”
Sunderland’s success has led some fans to wonder if Leeds should have taken a risk on spending more, potentially breaking PSR rules and potentially getting a four-point deduction in the future, to get a better squad that would survive in the top flight.
Especially given that, despite Evans’ claims that there was no room for further spending, Leeds tried to sign Harry Wilson and Facundo Buonanotte before the window closed.
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