The Leeds United manager has inherited a squad at Elland Road which has failed to meet expectation.
Leeds United manager Paul Heckingbottom has shared the difficulty he faces trying to overhaul his squad during the summer transfer window.
Heckingbottom moved to Leeds a week after the January window closed, inheriting a side left behind by predecessor Thomas Christiansen which has fallen short of pre-season expectation.
Christiansen saw 14 first team players arrive at Elland Road on permanent contracts throughout his eight-month reign, all but one of whom signed deals at least three years long.
And with the contracts of only two players currently involved in Leeds’ first team – Pablo Hernandez [2018] and Andy Lonergan [2019] – set to expire before 2020, Heckingbottom has told Leeds’ official Twitter account that he may not have much wiggle room when it comes to making changes.
“Yeah, a lot are [on long-term contracts] so it does change things, and makes things difficult,” the 40-year-old said.
“If you’re a football club and things are coming to an end in terms of players’ contracts, coaching contracts, whatever, it gives you so much more scope to make a big impact. Naturally, things will change.
“The good thing about long-term contracts is that we don’t have to lose anyone that we don’t want, the bad thing about it is that you’ve got less wiggle room if you like to make changes.”
The loan spells of Matthew Pennington and Pierre-Michel Lasogga are also up this summer, although exiled duo Luke Murphy and Marcus Antonsson – whose contracts run until 2019 – are due to return to Elland Road then.
Which Leeds players should Heckingbottom try to cull?
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