Phil Hay believes that the EFL will need to come up with a contingency plan for the expiration of loans and contracts at the end of the 2019/2020 season.

The enforced break, which was implemented by both the Premier League and the EFL, has thrown up many questions regarding the situation of loan players and those who are out of contract at the end of the 2019/2020 season. All of the deals that were agreed to bring those players to Leeds Untied have an expiry date, typically after the end of season play-offs and sometimes beyond that. But with the timescale in which the current season shall be completed yet to be finalised, there are several members of the Leeds squad that could have their future effected.

Leeds United currently have a host of players on loan at the club with that list including Helder Costa, Jack Harrison, Ben White and Jean-Kevin Augustin, all of which will most likely play a role in Leeds United reaching the Premier League this season if the campaign is going to continue after the scheduled suspension. But it is those who are out of contract who provide the most confusion for Hay as they could leave the club during the run-in, should the season be completed over the course of June and July. He told The Athletic: “Technically they would be able to depart on July 1 and I imagine that legally, there’s no way of preventing them going if they refuse to stick around.”

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With players such as Costa, Augustin and Harrison all having clauses in their loans that Leeds can make their move permanent in the summer of 2020, it appears that there is confusion up and down the pyramid on the situation involving loan players. Hay continued: “Numerous clubs face the same problem [as Leeds], so it makes sense for them to reach a common agreement which either extends the loans or provides some other form of contingency.

“Costa is effectively signed already, so that transfer will fall into place regardless but the options/obligations for Harrison/Augustin would probably need amending.”

The Verdict

Hay is correct, there needs to be a plan for loan players and those out of contract at the end of the current season to potentially extend their stay should the season be delayed any further. It would be very unfair on a club like Leeds to lose key loanee signings with a chunk of the season to go as the players that have been mentioned have all been massive in terms of Leeds finding themselves in a great position to achieve promotion.

The players are paid to play in the games that could secure promotion for the club and regardless of when those games take place, they should be there to play their part in the rest of what can only be described as a fantastic season for Leeds United. Legally, there is nothing from stopping those players from leaving at the expiry date of their contract with the club but with the enforced break, the authorities should be looking to create a solution that would stop that possibility.