The next seven Premier League games will make or break Leeds United’s immediate future, and that is the kind of pressure that will follow Javi Gracia until it’s certain that the Elland Road outfit have maintained their stay in the English top-flight for another season.
Between now and the end of the 2022/23 campaign, Leeds have to play (in order): Fulham (A), Leicester City (H), Bournemouth (A), Man City (A), Newcastle (H), West Ham (A) and Tottenham (H).
In every one of those fixtures bar Fulham, each team has something to play for. Man City have title aspirations, whilst Newcastle and Tottenham will hope to be playing Champions League football next season.
Leicester, Bournemouth and West Ham, like Leeds, are all fighting for their Premier League lives, with the latter currently just two points off of the bottom three per the official Premier League website.
Were they to plummet into the Championship, the financial issues that are likely to result will surely see a number of players having to be sold.
Indeed, the expectation would be that the squad would look very much different to if it remained in the top division.
If salvation is secured, the future will look much brighter, and Sporting talent, Manuel Ugarte, might find himself plying his trade at Elland Road next season.
According to Record (subscription required), Leeds remain optimistic that they’ll be able to secure a player who has a €60m/£52.8m buyout clause.
Manuel Ugarte vs. Arsenal:
– 82 touches
– 52 of 59 passes completed
– 8 passes into the final third
– 4 successful dribbles
– 8 tackles
– 4 fouls
– 10 ball recoveries
– 13 duels wonAn industrious performance from Ugarte to help Sporting past the Premier League leaders… pic.twitter.com/YBMlEtLJwz
— Warriors of Uruguay (@UruguayanHeroes) March 17, 2023
The 22-year-old certainly showed his skill set to its fullest when he helped embarrass Arsenal in the Europa League, and he would surely be a fine addition to the squad.
Over to you Señor Gracia.