Ex-Sunderland boss reveals Leeds United Premier League hope with 'massive club' admission
Leeds United, Sunderland and Burnley all have a difficult task ahead.
Former manager Martin O’Neill has backed ‘massive club’ Leeds United to avoid Premier League relegation next season.
Leeds have made a serious fist of building a top-flight squad so far this summer, spending around £75m on seven first-team additions to bulk out Daniel Farke’s squad. Goalkeeper Lucas Perri was the latest to arrive over the weekend following the agreement of a €16m deal with Lyon, while midfielder Anton Stach made his debut against Paderborn on Saturday.
Despite excitement over Leeds’ summer business so far, the goal next season remains survival and survival only, with chairman Paraag Marathe insisting earlier this summer anything above 18th would be ‘gravy’. And that sentiment has been echoed by the players through pre-season.
O’Neill was quizzed on a group of clubs who have spent aggressively so far this summer, with Leeds and Sunderland climbing into the Premier League while Birmingham City returned to the Championship. And the former Leicester City and Aston Villa boss hopes to see Elland Road host Premier League football beyond the 2025/26 campaign,
“I obviously would love Leeds United to stay up for a start because they are a massive football club,” O’Neill told talkSPORT. “Whether they have got the infrastructure, whether they’ve got the wherewithal to do that there, I just don’t know. Sunderland, of course, you’d want them to stay up, and who cares less about [newly-promoted Championship side] Birmingham?”
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Leeds’ defensive and midfield additions have been solid but they are far from done, with marquee signings expected further forward. While Marseille look to have won the race for Igor Paixão, Leeds are expected to bring in a top-quality left-winger and have Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz on their radar.
Leeds United Premier League survival chances rated
Signings of that quality would significantly boost Leeds’ survival chances but it is no guarantee, with all of last season’s relegated trio boasting impressive attacking options such as Tyler Dibling, Bilal El Khannouss and Liam Delap. The simple fact is Farke’s side will have to buck a concerning trend by finishing above one of the Premier League’s more established outfits.
But there has been plenty of summer change at teams Leeds might see as potential rivals, most notably Brentford who have lost impressive manager Thomas Frank, captain Christian Norgaard and talismanic winger Bryan Mbuemo, while Yoane Wissa is also reportedly wanting to join Newcastle United.
Wolves have lost their two best players, Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri, and floated around the bottom six for large parts of last season, while West Ham finished the previous campaign terribly and have lost Mohammed Kudus. And former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has picked out a couple who could struggle.
“I think they [Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley] all have a chance,” Jordan added. “I think there’s a few teams in there that are going to... I think Wolves might wobble again. Maybe [Brentford boss] Keith Andrews will find out the reality of what football management is like rather than football punditry. I think Leeds and Burnley have a chance, and I think it depends on what business Sunderland do.”