Tuesday Morning Hot Links
We are less than six weeks away from the opening of the 2025-26 Premier League season!
Leeds United
One of the goals of 49ers Enterprises when they purchased Leeds United was to redevelop and expand Elland Road, as it means a shedload more revenue every matchday. Currently holding 37,890 fans per game, Elland Road is 14th out of 20 in the Premier League in terms of capacity. Leeds have now submitted plans for a redesign that would bring capacity to over 53,000.
Lille/Sweden left back Gabriel Gudmundsson has completed a medical and is expected to finalize a deal to Leeds today/tomorrow.
Leeds have submitted a £10 million offer, with £2 million in add-ons, to Newcastle United for 27-year old midfielder Sean Longstaff. Longstaff is in the final year of his contract and only played 798 minutes (8 starts) for Newcastle last season. While not the flashiest signing, Longstaff does have 11,000 minutes of Premier League experience.
The arrival of Longstaff doesn’t necessarily rule out the addition of Hoffenheim midfielder Anton Stach.
The additions of Gudmundsson and Longstaff would bring Leeds’ summer transfer spending to about £42 million.
Leeds United and defender Sam Byram are “close” to signing a new contract. Byram, whose contract expired at the end of June, is in his second stint with Leeds United after going on walkabout with West Ham, Nottingham Forest, and Norwich City in between. He has played over 3,300 minutes across 69 appearances (40 starts) in the last two seasons, and is extremely serviceable from a depth standpoint.
Fabrizio Romano is reporting that Leeds are close to signing 17-year old Manchester City youth left back Jayden Lienou.
Leeds have joined Sunderland, Wolves, Juventus, Roma, and AC Milan with interest in 24-year old Lens midfielder Neil El Aynaoui.
West Ham and Leeds “have been linked” with 20-year old Slavia Prague/Senegal defender El Hadji Magick Diouf.
Elsewhere
Newcastle United have agreed to a £55 million deal for Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga. They also are in various stages of negotiations with Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and former Everton man Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Tottenham, Newcastle, and Napoli are keeping an eye on Jack Grealish, for whom Manchester City want just £40 million of the £100 million they spent on him four years ago. And what do Newcastle and Manchester City have in common? Not just Champions League places, but Saudi Bl**d Money.
Luka Modric is heading to AC Milan after the Club World Cup.
Brentford’s Bryan Mbuemo is getting pissed off about Manchester United’s jelly-dicking.
The first qualifying round of the Champions League starts today with national winners from across Europe, except for Liechtenstein (don’t have a league) and Russia (banned for being assholes), including Virtus, winners of the San Marino first division. It also includes Linfield, 57-time winners of Northern Ireland, managed by Former Leeds United Great David Healy. No, you can’t watch these games online, don’t be silly.
Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr is paying for his entire hometown of Fayako, Senegal to get electricity.
How VAR cost the USMNT a penalty against Mexico.
The best soccer deals on Amazon’s Prime Day.
What To Watch: Tuesday
11am (Central): Women’s European Championships: Germany v Denmark. FS1. Germany can clinch a spot in the knockout stage with a win.
2pm: Club World Cup Semifinal: Fluminese v Chelsea. TNT/TruTV.
2pm: Women’s Euros: Poland v Sweden. Fox. Sweden can clinch a spot in the knockout stage with a win.
7pm: U.S. Open Cup: Minnesota United v Chicago Fire. Paramount+.
9:30pm: U.S. Open Cup: San Jose v Austin FC. Paramount+.