Phil Hay believes that Leeds United will need to strengthen in a number of positions if they are to be playing in the Premier League next season.

Marcelo Bielsa has given his side the best possible chance of achieving promotion this season with his side sat at the top of the Sky Bet Championship with just nine games left to play. They sit a point ahead of second placed West Bromwich Albion and also seven clear of Fulham, who sit just outside of those automatic promotion places.

Should they see the season out whilst remaining in the top two, it would their first season back in England’s top tier for 16 years which will give the club much more pulling power in the upcoming transfer windows. With questions still to be answered over a host of Leeds United players' futures, the attention will turn to who will need to come in next season to retain their place in the Premier League line-up.

Phil Hay offered his thoughts as he told The Athletic that Leeds might need to be busy in the summer window to be able to compete in the top-flight, he said: “I think Bielsa will need another goalkeeper if Kiko Casilla was to leave (even if Meslier establishes himself as first choice).

“I also think he’d be well-advised to deepen his pool of central midfielders, and he would have to seriously ask himself if Leeds have the forwards they need to stay up.”

There are huge question marks over the future of Casilla following his recent ban for racially abusing Charlton Athletic’s Jonathan Leko, with French goalkeeper Illan Meslier replacing him in the line-up for their past two wins over Hull City and Huddersfield Town and impressing, keeping clean sheets in both fixtures. But should Casilla choose to leave Yorkshire at the end of the campaign, there would be a huge hole to fill as the Spaniard has been key to their rise up the table this season.

In the midfield it appears that Leeds have a depth of options, however, not many of those players have experience of playing in the Premier League, with Pablo Hernandez having played at the top level of English football during his time with Swansea City.

Adam Forshaw’s return from his hip injury in pre-season will be a boost for Bielsa with his Premier League experience with former side Middlesbrough.

In terms of the striking department, Leeds currently have three senior players who can lead their front line in Patrick Bamford, Tyler Roberts and Jean-Kevin Augustin. Both Bamford and Roberts will be contracted for the 2020/2021 campaign with the club having the option to make Augustin’s loan from RB Leipzig into a permanent move.

The Verdict

Hay is spot on with his comments here, if Leeds United want to stand a chance of surviving in the Premier League then they will need to spend big money to attract players of a high enough quality. A lot of the current side are untested in the Premier League, however, clubs in recent years have shown that they don’t need experience to perform at a high level. Both Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers in recent years have won promotion and stuck with the majority of the players who had performed well during their promotion seasons.

Leeds will need to strengthen in key areas, there is no doubt about that. They will need to bring in a blend of youth and experience into the current squad if they are to survive in the league and push further up the division like the before mentioned teams have done.

However, there are examples of clubs who have spent huge amounts of money after winning promotion only to be sent straight back into the Championship with players on Premier League style wages; Fulham being one of those clubs as they spent a reported £104.85 million just to finish in a relegation place and return to the second tier.

Bielsa will need to invest smartly if they want to get value for money in a transfer market full of inflated price-tags.