Farke’s future, Leeds United’s transfer commitment and Marathe’s redevelopment at Elland Road

Chemistry will be key to Leeds United’s transfer targets this summer in a side that Paraag Marathe hopes will be greater than the sum of its parts under Daniel Farke. In his first meeting with the media since taking charge at Elland Road, the chairman also admitted that the stadium’s development remains on track, but questions would be trickier to answer in another 12 months.

Marathe’s commitment to Farke remains impeccable, even in light of Sunday’s disappointment. The American was devastated by that experience at Wembley but is buoyed by the prospect of a five-week lead in the summer they have at the helm in 2023.

“Daniel was fantastic,” he said. “I’m excited to work with him again this season. We set out to do this, we had a long-term plan, a long-term commitment, not just me to him, but him to me. We have a lot of work to do and we must complete our plan.

READ MORE: ‘I can promise you’ – Paraag Marathe breaks silence on Leeds United’s promotion failure

“He was extraordinary, with a firm hand, with the right temperament. If you think about the circumstances (when) he first came in, I can’t remember exactly how many days we had between his official hire and the first day of training, but it wasn’t many.

“You’ve seen how the start of our season has been, with so many ins and outs and difficult and challenging player situations. He’s done a tremendous job and I’m excited to be back at it with him as a partner and our leadership team.

“I’m feeling really confident about the season, especially because we’re at least four or five weeks ahead of what we had last year.”

As manager, with the help of Angus Kinnear, Gretar Steinsson and Nick Hammond, Farke will inevitably have to oversee player sales this summer. Marathe did not shy away from the realities of the Profit and Sustainability (P&S) rules the club must adhere to, but was keen to stress that fans can expect spending power at Elland Road too.

“Let me lead with this: We are well capitalized from an investment standpoint,” he said. “We have the funds we need to do what we need to do. The reality of being in the Championship is that P&S plays a role.

“I also inherited a difficult situation, which you all saw, so of course there will have to be some compromises, but it’s not just exits, it’s also ins. We have a very good team that is scouting for impressive players that we can bring in.

“We’re going to have to make some compromises because of P&S, but we have the committed investment, that commitment, that we need to do what we need to do.”

Understandably, less than two days from the end of their extended season, Marathe could not go into too much detail about what the summer window may bring to Elland Road. The 49ers Enterprises boss was keen to stress the lengths their management team will go to in finding the right players for Farke.

“It’s a little early to tell,” he said. “I can’t talk about certain positions or things like that. What I will say is that we have a great team, a football management team, on board from the jump.

“After we brought Daniel in, we then went through the process of bringing in our technical director in Gretar Steinsson, then we went through the process of bringing Nick Hammond on board. That, combined with Angus spending a bit more time on football issues.

“Our team formed as we went along and executed things. Now, I’m really excited about the group we have, from Gretar and Nick and Daniel and Robbie Evans, our strategy director, and Angus and Adam Underwood.

“Together, this will be a team effort this year. This will be a team effort where no stone will be left unturned as we search through which are the best players and which are the best mindsets to fit our team.

“In some cases the sum of the pieces can be greater than the individual pieces, meaning the right group of players to bring us the right chemistry, to play together, to play for each other, to recognize what it means to wear that Leeds United badge. and wear it with pride. We’re going to find the right group of guys to come out and do it for us.”

Money has already been earmarked for the wider development of Elland Road, although supporters have seen little significant progress. Marathe maintains, at this point, the same level of progress would have been made regardless of the league the club was or will be in come August.

Work continued in the background to bring Leeds closer to a position where they could push the button on the shovels in the ground when the time came. Meanwhile, updates have been made to restrooms, lounges and lounges, he says.

“We have already allocated a certain amount of investment to make some improvements at Elland Road which I know the supporters have asked for,” he said. “While it might not be the shiny new toy, we do different things like improving bathrooms and improving different lounges and lounges.

“We have already allocated the investment we will make for this. In the bigger, bigger development, we’re still very much on the timeline and on the path to do that.

“It has been reported that nothing will happen until we get to the Premier League. It’s a bit misleading, at least for this season. A lot of the preparation work we have to do before a shovel is in the ground, it really didn’t matter this season whether we were in the Championship or the Premier League.

“There’s still work to be done, however we’re doing, and I don’t mean work, I mean a significant investment, to line up the right things that you need to do to work with the city council, to get all the approvals. , to make all the drawings. All these things, before you put a spade in the ground, whether we were in the Premier League or the Championship, we were going to do it anyway.

“This money is allocated, committed and we continue on this path. Now, if you ask me that question a year from now, it might be a little more complicated because at that point I’d be done with the shovel, but now it’s all greenlit as it would have been either way.”

Marathe’s transparency on matters precious to supporters, such as stadium development, is important to him. He wants to be seen as a president who says what he means and says what he says.

The American hopes that will be the reputation he develops over time as the 49ers move into his second year at the helm. Marathe was asked what he hopes will be the hallmarks of a second season in charge.

“Let me be a little introspective with this,” he said. “A few things come to mind. The first is, I hope I’ve developed a reputation, or if not I hope to continue to develop my reputation, of saying what I say and saying what I mean.

“I’m not one for platitudes or trying to under-promise, over-promise or vice versa. I like to be practical and call it like I see it.

“The second thing is I pride myself on trying to be very methodical and strategic about how we execute our plan. So that means don’t try to get too high when things are good and don’t try to get too low when things are down.

“We have a plan and how to execute our plan and I want to make sure we continue on that path. As I said about Daniel, we have a long-term commitment to each other and we’re continuing on that path.

“Will there be speed bumps like we just had? Of course, but I’m confident in what it should look like, the team, the club, our performance, the stadium and how we fit into the community.

“I’m committed to this goal and I don’t like to fly whichever way the wind blows. I like to keep my head down and be very methodical and careful with our approach.”