Liam Cooper's eight-word message as Leeds United captain breaks silence after Southampton defeat

Liam Cooper insists Leeds United will ‘come again’ after Sunday’s 1-0 play-off final defeat to Southampton consigned them to another season of Championship football.

Leeds fell at the final hurdle once again as Adam Armstrong’s clinical first-half finish proved the decisive goal at Wembley. Daniel Farke’s side failed to click in the capital and despite enjoying more possession, rarely threatened Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy with only Dan James coming close with a snapshot that crashed off the crossbar.

A desolate United squad fell to the floor at full-time with tears all round as reality hit, with Farke’s men now set for another season in the second-tier and key stars likely to leave the club. The squad will now take time to reflect on another tough day at Wembley but captain Cooper has sent a message to supporters.

After reflecting on another crushing day, Cooper took to X on Tuesday morning. Alongside a picture of the Leeds fans at Wembley, he wrote: “Proud of Our Club. We will come Again.”

Cooper’s future at Elland Road remains uncertain with the 32-year-old out of contract at the end of next month. Leeds are yet to publish their retained list but as things stand, the Scotland international looks set to call time on a 10-season spell in West Yorkshire.

"Obviously those conversations haven't happened yet,” he told the YEP of contract negotiations before Sunday’s final. “I think we can all see a lot bigger things going on than to worry about things like that." Those talks will need to be concluded sooner, rather than later, with Cooper hoping to be part of the Scotland squad for Euro 2024 in Germany, having been named in the provisional squad earlier this month.

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Fellow promotion hero Luke Ayling has already confirmed he will leave Leeds upon the expiry of his contract, having signed a two-year contract at Middlesbrough. The right-back spent the second-half of this season on loan at the Riverside and was able to find the regular football that was lacking at Elland Road.

Stuart Dallas has also played his last game for the club and confirmed his decision to retire earlier this year, following two years without football due to a horrific broken femur. The futures of Jamie Shackleton and Sam Byram are currently up in the air.

Leeds now look set for another tough summer as they look to navigate the potential sale of key players while also strengthening for another promotion push. The club owe around £190million in outstanding transfer payments for previous purchases and in missing out on promotion, will not enjoy the increase in revenue that comes with Premier League football.

Those in charge at Elland Road planned for a two-year stay in the Championship and so failure to go up is not catastrophic, but it does bring tough decisions into focus with interest in the likes of Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray and Wilfried Gnonto.