Whilst there's still plenty of time for more drama to take place in the Championship this weekend, Leeds United are currently on course to miss out on automatic promotion in a failure that will reportedly have transfer consequences if they then fail to go up through the play-offs.
Leeds transfer news
Promotion will be the key to Leeds' summer transfer business. Reach the Premier League and attracting players of a certain calibre will be far simpler than pitching the project centred around first earning promotion. Meanwhile, if they do fail to go up, then keeping hold of players will become that much harder, especially when it comes to the likes of Crysencio Summerville.
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The winger has already been linked with Liverpool and rejecting the Reds would arguably be almost impossible at a Championship club. Losing Summerville, in particular, would deal Daniel Farke a significant blow too. The Dutchman has managed 20 goals and 10 assists for a stunning 30 goal involvements in all competitions this season. Take those away and where Leeds would be is anyone's guess. And yet, he may not be the only player heading for the exit door.
According to ABC via Estadio Deportivo, Marc Roca has agreed to turn his loan permanent at Real Betis if Leeds fail to gain promotion to the Premier League this season. The midfielder endured a debut campaign to forget at Elland Road last year and was among those to leave on loan following the Whites' relegation. Now, if they fail to go up, he could have already played his final game for the club.
Given the success that both parties have had apart this season, a summer departure for Roca shouldn't be seen as a major blow, especially when considering that it would see Leeds clear a reported £35,000-a-week from their current wage bill.
"Interesting" Roca's exit is best for both parties
Chalked down as a transfer to forget, Roca's potential exit suits all parties involved, with the midfielder recently speaking positively about his time at Real Betis, saying in an interview with PTV Sevilla: “We’ll see (about my future). It’s true that we’re in contact with the club. We’ll see how everything evolves. It’s up to my agent to reach an agreement, and then Betis will have to talk to Leeds. We’ll see how the negotiations progress, but I’m very comfortable and very happy.”
With that said, Leeds could at least make back some of the £10m transfer fee that they initially paid out to reinvest into Daniel Farke's squad and turn any potential promotion failure into the beginning of a Championship title charge. Described as "interesting" by former Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic, Roca just never found his feet at Leeds amid a squad on course for Premier League heartbreak last season.
Since leaving Elland Road, he has made 22 starts in a Real Betis side looking to qualify for European football in La Liga this season to put his nightmare spell in Yorkshire behind him, whilst those at Leeds set their sights on returning to the top flight.
