Daniel Farke says he has finished the job he set out to do at Leeds United after keeping them in the Premier League and that he is “not the right choice” to stay on if the ownership’s plans do not match his ambition.
Farke has overachieved this season, sealing Leeds’ survival with two games to spare and leading the club to its first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, and his comments on Friday reflect the power he now wields.
Ahead of meeting with the Leeds hierarchy in the coming weeks, when player recruitment and his future are expected to be on the agenda, Farke has set his stall out early with a glimpse into what he would like his next chapter at Elland Road to look like.
“I’m ambitious and this is quite important for me going forward,” Farke said before Sunday’s final home game of the season against Brighton, live on Sky Sports.
“I love attractive football, perhaps for sides in the top half of the table, but I love to be a manager who plays for something rather than to avoid something.
“I’m not the right choice if it’s about maintaining the status quo. I have to be convinced of a project and I am at my best when I buy into a project. I can be picky and choose what I am convinced of.
“Leeds have had one good season in the Premier League in the last 25 years, the (first) season (back) with Marcelo (Bielsa), and we didn’t build on it.
“You have to develop and you have to evolve. This is what I stand for, so it’s important that we speak internally together and very trustfully together.”
Farke wants to keep control
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Farke made it clear that he wants to stay at Leeds but only under the condition that he continues to have the same control he was granted when they agreed his current four-year contract in 2023 after the club were relegated from the Premier League.
“It’s important you’re on the same page because I don’t decide for the club,” he said. “We have to speak about what we will do, what the new goals are, what the new ways are, can we keep our best players, can we improve the squad, can we bring players in who make us better?
“So far, this club wanted me to run the sport and wanted me to be there with the final decision in everything. Perhaps they have other thoughts in the process in going forward. Perhaps not.
“We have to speak about it, but one thing is also for sure, I will just lead the project when I’m in charge and I [take] the decisions, like I’ve done in recent years.”
Analysis: Farke applying pressure ahead of crucial summer
Daniel Farke’s stock at Leeds United has never been higher than it is right now. His latest comments demonstrate that. They can only be interpreted as a manager applying the pressure on his bosses ahead of a crucial summer for him and the club.
Farke has one more year on his contract, which gives him leverage when it comes to the discussions around plans for next season. They, of course, will also have a bearing on what happens with his future.
There is no doubting that Farke has earned that right after the past three seasons. He can see the opportunity in front of him and the potential at Elland Road – but does not want Leeds to fall into the same trap as last time they were in the Premier League.
Leeds’ owners are ambitious about the summer, and there is no indication at this stage that the two parties are on a different page when it comes to the future.
The Premier League’s financial rules mean the club must be realistic with their spending, but there is no reason last summer’s success, when around £100m was spent, cannot be repeated.
Farke has a squad full of characters that possess the fight and determination to play his intense style of football. He now wants to address the shortfall in individual quality in the current squad.
The Leeds boss’s decision to switch to a back five in December has been the catalyst for Leeds’ survival. But it was the first time he had ever started with that formation since taking over at Elland Road. He had always preferred to play with a back four.
Leeds sealed promotion from the Championship with 100 points playing in either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. Those who know Farke believe that he would like to return to that if Leeds can get their recruitment right.
The message from Farke is clear: He is ambitious and wants Leeds to match that if they are to commit to each other again.
