Sunderland's Championship rivals Leeds United make manager decision and drop player sales hint

Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe has backed Daniel Farke to stay and lead the club to promotion next season, but has dropped a strong hint that some key players will have to be sold this summer in order for the club to remain within the boundaries of the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability rules.

Leeds are the early favourites for the division next season after falling just short in their first campaign back in the second tier, beaten 1-0 by Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley on Sunday. That defeat had briefly raised questions over Farke’s future at the club but he has been firmly backed by the club’s ownership group, who believe that the additional time they will get to prepare for the upcoming season will be to their benefit.

“I’m excited about working with him again this season,” Marathe told our sister paper The Yorkshire Evening Post.

“We set out to do this, we had a long-term plan, a long-term commitment, not just me to him but him to me. And you know we have a lot of work to do and we have to see our plan through. He has been tremendous, with a steady hand, the right temperament. If you think about the circumstances that he first came in, I can't remember exactly how many days we had between his official hiring and the first day of training, but it wasn't many and you saw that how our start to the season was with just so many ins and outs and different difficult, challenging player situations. And I thought he did a tremendous job. And so I'm excited about getting back at it with him as my partner and with our leadership team. I just think I really feel confident about the season particularly because we have at least a four or five week head start on what we had last year."

While Marathe says there are no doubts or concerns over the ownership’s ability or willingness to invest in the squad and the club, there are some realities to confront over their position with the EFL’s financial rules.

Asked if the club would able to keep talented youngster Archie Gray this summer, Marathe hinted that there would have some significant departures.

“If I can paint the big picture for you, there are certain things that we need to do and we will make sure we are fully compliant with P&S, as we always have been,” he said.

“And there are certain trade-offs that we have to make and so we'll have to get to the drawing board and figure out which moves we have to make sure that we are compliant. It's too early to say. Obviously Archie is a tremendous player, as are all of the players who put in so much effort for us, but you know, every season brings change and so I can't yet comment on it, but we'll see what happens."