Daniel Farke has his team on the edge of glory. After a less than convincing first leg against Norwich City, in which the two sides played out a pretty boring 0-0 draw, the Whites blew their opposition away, booking their spot at Wembley for the play-off final with a 4-0 win on Thursday night.
The German boss said after the game, via Rangers Review: “When I watch the game back at home on the sofa I’ll enjoy it. During the game I was just focused on making the right decisions.
But the team were brilliant, and a bit more brutal and clinical in front of goal to finish the game. In the last seasons I spent in this league I was promoted twice. Right now I’m in the play-off final.
If someone had told us we’d get to Wembley and one game away from the Premier League back at the start of September, I’d have said no chance. But right now we have that chance.
Well done to the boys. It was one of the most complete performances of the season against a really good side.”
After a horrendous end to the season, and the way they played at Carrow Road, there weren’t many people that expected them to be so electric against David Wagner’s team (who has since been sacked).
The Championship play-off final brings millions to the team that wins it, but Leeds will have a fee to pay out if they achieve their goal of a first-time return to the top flight.
Leeds to pay Rangers £500k Glen Kamara fee
The Finnish international made the switch from Glasgow to Yorkshire in the summer, in a deal that cost United £5 million.
He was in the starting XI, and played every single minute of the emphatic second leg victory at Elland Road.
With 37 league appearances in the 2023/24 campaign – 33 of which were starts – Kamara has been a rock in the middle of the park for Leeds, in what has been an ever-changing midfield.
He will more than likely start against either Southampton or West Bromwich Albion in the play-off final, and, if Leeds win at Wembley, they will need to pay Rangers £500,000.
According to Rangers Review, the Yorkshire side must pay a windfall, equating to 10% of the fee that they paid in the summer, to the Gers if they secure promotion to the Premier League.
£500,000 windfall will be more than worth it for Leeds
Before the 2020 play-off final, Deloitte reported that the winner of the tie would receive between £135 million and £265 million as a result, depending on whether they managed to avoid the drop in the next campaign.
In Leeds’ last season in the Premier League (22/23) they earned £111.7 million from the domestic TV rights deal alone, according to the Daily Mail.
A half-a-million subsidy to the Gers would mean absolutely nothing to them, given the money they would earn from winning promotion.
That small fee won’t be their biggest financial concern, because that money they may earn from being in the Premier League would massively help their current financial issues, which could lead to £100 million-worth of sales being required, if they don’t win at Wembley