Leeds United continued their perfect pre-season campaign on Saturday after beating Schalke 2-0, making it three wins from three so far this summer. Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph were on target for Daniel Farke’s side, the latter netting his third goal from two appearances with the squad out in Germany. Equally promising were the positive performances of new arrivals including Joe Rothwell and Jayden Bogle, who have settled in quickly with less than a fortnight until the 2024/25 season kicks off at home to Portsmouth.
Fans will hope to see some more new faces joining the likes of Rothwell and Bogle, with Farke admitting while out in Germany that Leeds would remain active in the market, with reinforcements at full-back and central midfield on the shopping list. The squad are expected to have a couple of days off before preparing for the visit of Valencia on Saturday, and the YEP has rounded up some of the latest stories in the meantime.
Sara exit stance
Gabriel Sara is thought to be happy with the prospect of staying at Norwich City this month amid recent links with a move to Leeds. The Pink Un reports that Sara is ‘content’ at Carrow Road but could be sold regardless, with the Canaries needing to sanction at least one major sale and their midfielder attracting plenty of interest.
The 25-year-old emerged as a reported target for Leeds over the weekend but it remains to be seen whether interest will develop any further, with a host of Premier League clubs including Crystal Palace and Leicester City also thought to be keen. Farke remains open to signing a central midfielder who can offer goals and while the majority of Sara’s 25 contributions – 12 goals and 13 assists – came from a more attacking role, he can play deeper..
Norwich reportedly want around €20million (£16.6m) for the Brazilian and aren’t yet open to a sale, with head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup even handing him the armband in pre-season. “We’ll leave transfer rumours and stuff like that for someone else,” Thorup said when asked about Sara’s future recently. “That’s not for me, that’s not for Gabby, we just continue improving and I think it was obvious in the game what he can offer.”
McCarron move
Former Leeds defender Liam McCarron looks set to drop into League One with Northampton Town after failing to make an impact at Stoke City. Football Insider reports that the 23-year-old is in ‘advanced talks’ to leave Championship outfit Stoke for free, despite having a year left on his contract.
Stoke bought McCarron from Leeds in the summer of 2022, with then manager Michael O’Neil assuring the young defender of first-team football, but he was sacked in early August and a loan move to Port Vale was quickly agreed. The Scotland Under-19 international barely featured there or back with Stoke last season and opted to feature for Northampton in a friendly on Saturday, rather than fly to Cork for a training camp with his current club.
McCarron joined Leeds from Carlisle in the summer of 2019, initially joining the youth ranks before being handed a Premier League debut by Marcelo Bielsa in December 2021, coming off the bench for an injury-ravaged side during a 4-1 defeat against Arsenal. But the defender could not establish himself in the first team and was unable to do so again at Stoke, with a move to League One Northampton hoped to bring regular football.
