Liverpool given green light for £75m double Leeds United raid as chairman makes 'trade-off' admission

Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe has admitted that the club will have to make some trade-offs this summer to stay in line with profit and sustainability regulations after they failed to earn promotion to the Premier League.

Following their Championship play-off final defeat to Southampton, much has been made of the club needing to pay off £190m in previous transfer fees. American investors 49ers Enterprises completed a full takeover of the Elland Road club last summer but did so in the knowledge they would inherit a ‘credit card bill’ of £190m. The club have already cut down the lofty figure by selling Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra to Bournemouth but there is an admission that more players will need to move on this summer.

Crysencio Summerville is one star being strongly linked with a departure amid reported interest from Liverpool as well as their Premier League rivals Chelsea, Newcastle United and Aston Villa. The Dutchman is under contract at Elland Road until 2026 but reportedly available for around £35m.

Another player Liverpool have been linked with is teenager Archie Gray, who has enjoyed an impressive breakout season for Leeds. A defensive midfielder by trade, Gray has played at right-back on a number of occasions this term but has been a consistent starter under Daniel Farke. Reports in January claimed Liverpool were eyeing a move for Gray with a £40m bid already lined-up.

Marathe was not able to definitively say if Gray would remain at Leeds this summer, leaving the door open for Liverpool if they can approach the Elland Road club with a big enough offer for the young star.

"It's a little too early for me to answer specific questions, it's still, what is it 36 hours or whatever since the final, so it's just I can't talk on specific players right now," said Marathe in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post. "But 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.

“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."

He continued: "We are well capitalised from an investment standpoint, we have the funds that we need to do what we need to do. The reality of being in the Championship is that P&S plays a role. We obviously also inherited a challenging situation, which you guys have all seen, so there naturally need to be some trade-offs.

“But also we have a really good team and it's not just outs, it's ins as well. And so looking at scouting possibilities for us and players that we can bring in, but we will have to make some trade-offs because of P&S. But we have the investment commitment that we need to do what we need to do.

"The outbound transfer payments we have to make were already contemplated as went through the transaction last summer and that was sort of reflected in the acquisition. We inherited a credit card bill we knew we had to take care of and we made sure we had the investment we needed up front and capital commitment to make sure we were covered on that and able to manage that properly.”