5 things learned from Leeds United v Man Utd including Patrick Bamford transfer decision & impressive debuts
Leeds United played out a goalless draw against Premier League rivals Manchester United in Stockholm on Saturday.
Leeds United’s 2025/26 pre-season campaign got underway on Saturday with an encouraging 0-0 draw against Manchester United in Sweden.
More than 45,000 fans packed out Stockholm’s Strawberry Arena as Leeds got their first taste of Premier League opposition, with all five summer signings getting a run out in the recently-released blue away strip. Daniel Farke’s side looked sharp throughout and could well have won it, were it not for a couple of missed chances from Jayden Bogle and Largie Ramazani.
Manchester United also had chances and Leeds relied on a goalmouth scramble to keep their rivals out late on, with plenty for both sides to take from the fixture. Below, the YEP has looked at five key talking points fans can mull over as Farke and his squad jump on a plane to Germany.
Patrick Bamford transfer decision
Arguably the biggest talking point of the day came before kick-off, with Patrick Bamford not involved in the squad despite no suggestion of an injury. Bamford will also not travel to Germany and speaking after the game, Farke revealed he’s told the 31-year-old he is not in next season’s Premier League plans.
With Lukas Nmecha already through the door and a first-choice striker expected to follow, it seemed inevitable at least one current option would move on and Leeds’ insistence Mateo Joseph is not for sale pointed towards an exit for Bamford. And Farke’s decision to leave him out of pre-season has all but confirmed the two-time promotion winner will move on.
“He will score on each every level because he's a top player,” Farke said after confirming the decision. “But after the last two seasons, I was not willing to say come on you are right now our main man on a permanent level. And to be honest, I don't think that he should be a back-up option anymore, because this is not what you should be if you were the main man for so many years as well. And that's why we had this honest conversation."
Jack Harrison reception
While Bamford was a surprise omission in Sweden, Jack Harrison’s involvement was also somewhat surprising. The winger is back from a second loan spell at Everton, having twice triggered a relegation release clause that is no longer active following Leeds’ renewed Premier League status.
Harrison even started on Saturday but Leeds fans clearly haven’t forgotten those two decisions to leave, and he received a frosty reception from fans inside the Strawberry Arena. Boos rang out when his name was mentioned over the tannoy and he was subsequently jeered with every touch as those inside the stadium made their feelings clear.
Farke said after full-time that Harrison’s Leeds future depends on his pre-season performances but he struggled to impact the game in any real sense on Saturday, with any first-half danger coming on the opposite side to him and Sam Byram. An uncertain summer lies ahead.
Impressive debuts all-round
Harrison will have met a lot of new faces over the past week and none more so than Sean Longstaff, whose first minutes as a Leeds player came less than 24 hours after his transfer from Newcastle United was confirmed. The midfielder was one of many half-time substitutes and got 45 minutes under his belt in the same line-up as left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson and Sebastiaan Bornauw.
All three enjoyed steady debuts and Jaka Bijol looked solid alongside Joe Rodon at centre-back, but it was arguably Nmecha who impressed most of all the new arrivals. The free agent striker looked encouragingly fit and provided the kind of hold up play Leeds are going to need a lot of next season. All in all, every new signing looked decent.
Formation tweak on the cards?
As interesting as all those new players this season will be Farke, more specifically how he plans to adapt after two previous miserable campaigns in the Premier League at Norwich City. There have been questions as to whether he can tweak enough tactically as an inferior side but he looked to make a couple of little changes on Saturday.
Most notable was the use of a 4-3-3 formation, a move away from his trusted 4-2-3-1, but it will be interesting to see if he keeps a more solid midfield unit once his only natural No.10, Brenden Aaronson, returns from his summer holidays. It seemed to work well on Saturday, with the likes of Ao Tanaka or Longstaff given the freedom to push on with runs beyond the striker.
Jayden Bogle’s dancing feet
Not so much a thing anyone learned, given it was on show every week last season, but Jayden Bogle’s ability to wriggle out of any situation with the ball at his feet remains a sight to behold. The silky right-back produced some brilliant pieces of footwork to skip beyond opponents and was as forward-thinking as ever.
Almost all of Leeds’ first-half threat came down Bogle’s side, with Willy Gnonto sharp on the wing and Tanaka more than willing to join in the fun. Leeds were caught a little too far forward on that side at times but it was great fun watching the aforementioned trio string together some slick moves. Oh how it’s been missed.