Leeds United are looking to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2004, and they are still favourites to secure promotion from the Championship despite a shaky form since the campaign restarted.
The Elland Road outfit have won once, drawn once and lost once since the restart, but they are still top of the table with six games to go, with a six-point cushion between them and the play-offs places.
Remaining in the English top-flight when they move up will be another huge challenge, but owner Andrea Radrizzani already has plans for the tough task ahead.
“I want to help Leeds United return to the level our history and fans deserve. When I came to the club, I gave myself three years to deliver that and my vision remains the same: return the club to its rightful place in the Premier League and make our fans, players and staff proud of their football team,” the Italian told Fifa’s Professional Football Journal.
“We have everything to do it – a world-class coach [Marcelo Bielsa], great players and unbelievable fans – so I feel very positive. Over the next five years, we will continue to build a club and infrastructure capable of succeeding in the world’s most competitive league.
“As a model, I look at clubs like Brighton & Hove Albion and the success they’ve achieved gradually on a sustainable budget. I want to take a similar approach. When we come through the global pandemic, I believe we will be in a good position for the immediate future and also to build for the longer term.”
Brighton have been in the Premier League since the summer of 2017 after securing automatic promotion from the Championship following a 34-year wait, and they have done impressively well to hold on to their top-flight status ever since.
The Seagulls spent £59 million on transfers last summer, £31 million in the summer of 2018 and £34 million in the summer of 2017.
Brighton centre-back Ben White is currently on a season-long loan at Leeds, and he is expected to return to his parent club at the end of the campaign.
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