As if Leeds United’s season wasn’t impressive enough already, add in the context surrounding last summer’s difficult transfer window and the work Daniel Farke has done at Elland Road feels even more eye-catching.
Leeds lost their homegrown hero Archie Gray, their creative kingpin Georginio Rutter and the Championship’s reigning Player of the Year Crysencio Summerville.
The latter, by the way, was also their top scorer.
Casual observers of England’s second tier would have been forgiven for forgetting how a troubled summer turned out in West Yorkshire. Because Leeds, despite dropping points at home to West Brom last time out, are still three clear at the top and five clear of Burnley in third.
Promotion would not only bring Premier League football back to Elland Road, it would also ensure that Leeds United are operating from a position of real strength should suitors emerge for the likes of Dan James, Ao Tanaka, Joe Rodon and co.
Pascal Struijk, in particular.
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the £25 million-rated Struijk. Feyenoord too, per new claims emerging this week via Football Transfers.
Feyenoord eye Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk
Leeds United News have been informed that the San Francisco 49ers are prioritising a new deal for Pascal Struijk with only two years left on his current deal. Presuming Paraag Marathe can put Premier League football on the table, that would strengthen The Whites’ hand substantially.
The aforementioned Feyenoord might not be quite so lucky as they look to hang onto a star centre-back of their own.
Struijk, who joined Leeds from Ajax back in 2018, has been identified in Rotterdam as a potential replacement for the much-admired David Hancko. A talented Slovakian southpaw who, having come close to joining Atletico Madrid in a £35 million deal last summer, has made no secret of his desire to make a transfer happen twelve months on.
“I was a bit disappointed about [not joining Atletico], but it was not because I necessarily wanted to leave Feyenoord,” Hancko told reporters back in December.
“I didn’t consciously want to leave Sparta Prague [before moving to the Netherlands]. But, two and a half years ago, Feyenoord was that next step.
“I quickly switched the button.”
Having already become an Eredivisie champion under Arne Slot, and having recently turned 27, Hancko obviously feels he is ready to climb the next rung on the ladder.
“I think he’d like to move on,” Hancko’s wife said shortly after the defender’s agent confirmed interest from Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain. “Actually, we would both be happy.”
David Hancko wants to leave with Leeds star a possible successor
Even the biggest clubs in Dutch football are painfully aware of their place in the pyramid.
Feyenoord have lost such talents as Santiago Gimenez, Mats Wieffer, Orkun Kokcu and Tyrell Malacia in previous transfer windows, while selling the now-Bournemouth-based Luis Sinisterra to Leeds United.
Hancko, one of the finest left-sided centre-backs around, appears to be in the next cab off the rank. Whether this is something which should keep the Leeds faithful up at night, however, remains to be seen.
A move to Feyenoord would see Struijk return to the country where he started his footballing journey. It would also open up the door to European football, albeit a return to the Champions League looks unlikely for Robin van Persie’s fourth-placed side.
Then again, if the lure of the Premier League was enough to convince Sinisterra to move in the other direction, then why can it not also keep Pascal Struijk committed to the Leeds United cause?
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