So where are they now? How are the loanees settling in at their temporary teams? As the famous saying goes, All Leeds Aren’t We, so in retrospect some of these players may have done us a favour by abandoning ship and facilitating the club to bring in new blood, fresh legs and quite frankly a better attitude. If we look at this in a positive way, these players actually ARE all Leeds, because they did save us. From themselves. So how is the progress of these players panning out these days? You know, the ones that sprinted from Elland Road faster than Linford Christie, crying into their relegation clauses, begging for Premiership and European cubs to sign them on the pretence they were only thinking of their international careers. However for some of them, things are not quite turning out quite the way they envisioned, so let’s take a little peek at their progress so far…
Let’s begin with Rasmus Kristensen, one of the earliest departures that must have thought all his birthdays and Christmases had come at once when Roma agreed to take him on loan, and on paper it looked a pretty sweet deal for him. With a prospective glittering career beckoning under the leadership of the once self proclaimed “The Special One”, Jose Mourinho may be dropping Kristensen from the Europa League squad altogether. Word on the street is that due to Roma’s spending restrictions and the fact that the Serie A League side can only register 5 of their newest signings , Kristensen could be one of Jose’s dispensable players. He faced heavy criticism from Roma fans after making his debut against Salernitana last month, replaced at half time a week later and then dropped altogether for the AC Milan game. So it appears that his previous statement on the fans, “Leeds fans are very warm and passionate, but Roma’s fanbase is on another level. Here the passion is different,” may be come back to bite him on the arse. Considering he is still in contract with Leeds United until 2027, Kristensen may have to eat some humble pie if he is to return to the club in January, it is going to be a tough start to the Italian season for the Dane.
Next up and out on the loan train is Jack Harrison. There is no doubt Harrison sweated blood and tears for Leeds United, and undoubtedly played a huge role under Bielsa’s schooling in previous seasons for the club, but he decided to hand in his Championship notice and move to Everton. Yes he issued a heartfelt statement thanking the fans and even admitted he will be keeping an eye on the results which he has the time to do considering he is still recovering from a hip injury and yet to be declared fit to start a match. However he probably needs to be keeping an eye on his own results as Leeds United fans secretly revel in Everton’s poor start to the Premiership who have yet to win a match. Maybe Willy Gnonto had a crystal ball after all and let Jack take one for the team while he cleared up his own mess, and perhaps Leeds United will cross paths with Everton as they replace us in the Championship? Wishful thinking I know, but stranger things have happened. Harrison is another Leeds United player who surely thought the grass would be greener on the Premiership pitches paved with gold and potential international sign ups.
Brenden Aaronson is next on the hit list, who struggled to get to grips in the Premier League for Leeds United and despite his £25 million price tag, managed just 1 goal and 3 assists for Leeds, another wantaway player triggering his relegation exit clause and loaned out to Union Berlin, who will be playing in the Champions League this season. However Union Berlin managing director of sport, Oliver Ruhnert, has told media that Aaronson “still has to work on his physicality” which is an essential component to succeeding in the Bundesliga. It will be interesting to see if Aaronson will ever grace English football pitches again as he tries to progress his international career and acquire more caps in playing for his country. An unlikely prospect at this present time. A tough start in Europe for Aaronson, if he struggled with the pace and “physicality” in the Premiership, he is in for a rude awakening in Germany.
A few others to mention that may regret their hasty departures in the future include Luis Sinisterra who threw his toys out of the pram and allegedly threatened legal action if he could not move to Bournemouth, he joined his teammate Tyler Adams who is still recovering from a hamstring injury. Tyler Roberts’ move to Birmingham seems to have stopped him in his tracks as he is also recovering from injury and could possibly be out for another 3-4 weeks.
So in summary, even though Leeds United fans may have initially despaired at the mass exodus facing the team at the start of the transfer window, Daniel Farke has had to cut the wheat from the chaff, even if some of the dodgy deals and bargain basement sales were out of his hands. Farke has emphasised his stance on players who do not want to be there and has concentrated on boosting team morale and the feeling of unity within the ranks. He has eliminated the wantaways, and now we have new, exciting creative players in the squad and more importantly this team are giving us commitment. The players that wanted to leave have left with great expectations and while we respect their decisions for whatever personal reasons they gave, who really cares now. It’s about who we have now and who is going to wear the Leeds United shirt with pride and fight every step of the way to claw our way out of the hardest league in English football. And if this emerging new Leeds United team do successfully mount a serious campaign towards promotion, who will return and do we really want them back? Because if the Premiership IS chanting our name, it just goes to show that we didn’t really need them after all. This Leeds United team NOW are showing Leeds United fans that together we’re “All Leeds Aren’t We”.
