Leeds United will have an “exciting summer” according to Angus Kinnear

Angus Kinnear, the Managing Director of Leeds United, promised that Leeds United will have an “exciting summer” with a recruitment strategy already planned out and that lessons have been learned from this season’s stumbles.

Angus Kinnear praised the fans for continuing to show up and support the club, despite the tumble down the table. The club has only won once since Boxing Day, but the attendances have not seen a large dip, with crowds nearly filling up Elland Road almost every home match.

As for the plans for next year, Angus Kinnear told the Yorkshire Evening Post that:

One hundred per cent of the money generated from season ticket sales is put back into the first team in the form of transfer fees or salaries.

The scale of our season tickets base, in addition to Andrea’s continued investment, can give Leeds United a competitive advantage in the transfer market.

The board has agreed a recruitment strategy with the head coach, director of football and scouting team, founded on the learnings from this season and we are expecting an exciting summer.

Our objective is to secure a play-off place, which we believe is achievable based on our resources and the scale of our fan base.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding and we’ll see what kind of strategy the club pursues in the summer. English and England-based players are ludicrously expensive, with strikers such as Jordan Hugill going to West Ham United for £10 million and Middlesbrough signing Ashley Fletcher for £6.5 million and Britt Assombalonga for £15 million, over one million pounds for every goal he scored in the Championship last season. Leeds found transfer “bargins” in Gjanni Alioski and Samu Saiz, but far too many of the players have been off the pace in the Championship.

The emphasis on quantity over quality was displayed on the “replacement” for the departed Chris Wood. Instead of finding a proven Championship goal-scorer, Victor Orta touted that he had brought in three players to compete for the starting spot: Pawel Cibicki, Pierre-Michel Lasogga, and Caleb Ekuban, along with Kemar Roofe who was already at the club. And while Lasogga has shown flashes of brilliance, his loan is up at the end of the season and it appears he’s not coming back to Elland Road. The others have, in their own way, proven to be unable to play week-in, week-out as a striker at a high level.

Will Orta change his stripes and get some quality, experienced players in? Only time will tell. But if Leeds are to compete on a level with the other promotion candidates, not to mention another three teams with large parachute payments, they’re going to have to do better than last summer’s efforts.