FARKE SEEKS TO CHANGE MINDSET

DANIEL Farke is not spoilt for choice. Leeds’ final training session of pre-season saw just 16 players rattling around Thorp Arch, their forward line decimated by injury and their transfer plans at a standstill.

- Chris Dunlavy

Release clauses in the contracts of several firstteam players became active following last season’s relegation from the Premier League, with Jack Harrison (£16m) and Tyler Adams (£20m) among those who could depart if their valuations are met. Until that happens, however, Leeds are in limbo.

“There is no point in sugar-coating it,” admitted Farke, a veteran of two Championship promotions with Norwich who arrived last month after a season in Germany at Borussia Monchengladbach. “The club is not in the driving seat.”

Right now, though, the eternally optimistic German is less worried about the players he doesn’t have than the ones he does.

LEEDS UNITED v CARDIFF CITY Today, 2.30pm

Relegation capped a dismal 18 months for the Whites, whose gung-ho bravery under Marcelo Bielsa gradually morphed into shambolic disorganisation that a trio of disparate (and increasingly desperate) managers failed to remedy.

Over 150 goals were shipped over the past two seasons, with humiliating scorelines a feature of regular defeats. Such experiences are not easily shaken off, as Farke knows only too well after enduring a similarly bruising campaign at Norwich in 2019-20.

Norwich, though, bounced straight back. The Canaries’ second title was won in even more dominant fashion than the first, and if Leeds are to impose their quality in similar fashion then Farke says attitude and adaptation are of critical importance.