Leeds United plotting contract talks after Jesse Marsch's January 'interest' admission

Leeds’ transfer priorities heading into the January transfer window remain abundantly clear. Failure to address depth issues at left-back or centre-forward has meant United have been forced to accommodate ill-fitting solutions in those positions over the past season and a half. Daniel James’ lengthy stint as the focal point of Leeds’ attack last season was a failed experiment, as the Welshman was allowed to join Premier League rivals on a season-long loan. Meanwhile, 2021 summer signing Junior Firpo has been ousted at left-back by Pascal Struijk, nominally a central defender.

Despite the widely-held view of supporters that there must be arrivals in January to supplement Jesse Marsch’s squad, the club can keep their own house in order by extending the current deals of a number of key players. Leeds are expected to move ahead with a string of contract extensions in the coming weeks and months as they aim to tie down some of the team’s highest potential players.

This summer, Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Crysencio Summerville all signed new deals at Elland Road; the latter agreeing to stay until 2026, while thick-as-thieves pairing Gelhardt and Greenwood signed on until 2027. A series of Leeds’ first-team squad members see their contracts expire within the next 18 months or so, meaning director of football Victor Orta will be kept busy throughout the World Cup break.

"We've spoken a bit,” Marsch said last week in reference to the January window. “I think in general, whenever I look at windows, I look at it piece-by-piece and window-by-window. There's the two-month project [January] and what we think we need right now, and then what is the eight months [project] and what is 14 [month project] and and trying to piece together, how the cycle will present itself.

"We have targets. I think we're smart enough to know that in order to achieve our goals, we want to continue to look at every position and think about how we can move forward in the right way.

"We also know that we have some young talented players that will continue to draw interest. And so trying to figure out how to keep those players, how long we can keep them, what can entice them to stay and what that means,” Marsch added.

Defender Pascal Struijk spoke earlier this season about his desire to extend his stay at Elland Road during an interview with Dutch media: “At least for now I’m really enjoying myself at Leeds and it would be nice if they were willing to extend my contract. I feel good here and I focus on Leeds,” the 23-year-old told Voetbalzone.