Two Marcelo Bielsa favourites among 11 players officially leaving Leeds United today as contracts expire

A number of players will officially leave Leeds United today after a host of contracts expired ahead of the 2024-25 Championship campaign. Leeds confirmed their retained list earlier this month, with 11 players moving on from Elland Road.

Two of the stand-out names to be released once their deals ran out were two favourites from Marcelo Bielsa’s time at the club in Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas. Both men were a key part of the Whites side that won the Championship title in 2020 and played an important role as Bielsa guided Leeds to ninth in the Premier League in the 2020-21 campaign.

Dallas has already announced his retirement from playing due to a serious leg injury which he suffered back in April 2020. Ayling, meanwhile, has already secured his next club, after signing a two-year deal with Leeds’ Championship rivals Middlesbrough. He spent the second half of last season on loan at the Riverside Stadium and impressed head coach Michael Carrick enough to earn a permanent contract.

Ayling played 268 times for Leeds while Dallas made 267 appearances since his move from Brentford. Speaking about his time at Leeds earlier this year, Ayling said: "I came to Leeds eight years ago with a fiancee and I leave with an amazing wife, two beautiful children and memories that I will never forget.

"There are so many highlights from my time at Elland Road and obviously promotion back to the Premier League tops them all. Those years with Marcelo and the connection we had between the players and the fans was incredible. I loved pulling on a Leeds shirt, every single time. Moments that stick in my mind are the goal against Huddersfield just before lockdown, the promotion run when football restarted and many of the games in the season we finished ninth in the Premier League.”

While Dallas said of his own spell with the Whites: “This may not be how fairytales are supposed to end, but I must now deal with the fact that this chapter of my life is drawing to a close. I am incredibly grateful to so many people who have helped me over the years, not only to make the most of my career, but who enabled me to do so with a smile on my face.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with some outstanding managers, but two in particular I want to pay special thanks to are Marcelo Bielsa and Michael O’Neill. Marcelo’s incredible coaching helped me improve not just as a player, but as a person off the pitch too. Premier League football seemed a million miles away at times, but he made this all possible. These were simply the greatest years of my career and I created memories that I’ll cherish forever.”

Charlie Allen, Lewis Bate, Keenan Carole, Cuba Diboe, Scott Godden, Ian Poveda, Morten Spencer, Harvey Sutcliffe and Dani van den Heuvel have also been officially released after their deals at Elland Road expired.

Poveda has been strongly linked with a move to the Whites’ Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday while Bate has already secured his next move after signing for League One side Stockport County. There is the possibility of six more players could move on from the club as talks continue over new deals. Upon annoucing their retained list Leeds said Harry Christy, Cody Drameh, Joseph Snowdon and Luca Thomas were offered new contracts.

As previously explained by YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth, a new deal for Drameh was largely due to financial reasons and not on the expectation he would sign an extension. Because he is under the age of 24, Leeds will be due some measure of compensation from whoever signs him this summer. In the majority of cases clubs simply come to an agreement on a fee but if not, the matter could go before a tribunal.

Meanwhile, the club also announced talks were underway with Jamie Shackleton and Liam Cooper about extending their contracts. No update has been provided as things stand, and though the pair will be out of contract it does not prevent them from agreeing new deals. Shackleton has been linked with Championship rivals Sheffield United while Cooper’s talks would have been delayed by his participation at Euro 2024 with Scotland.