- Whites slipped out of the Premier League
- Skipper only wants committed colleagues
- A number of loan deals put in place
WHAT HAPPENED? The Whites captain has revealed the dressing room message that he delivered after seeing relegation out of the Premier League confirmed in 2022-23. The underperforming Whites find themselves back in the second tier of English football and seeing questions asked of how long supposedly prized assets will be sticking around at Elland Road. Cooper has made it clear that he does not want anybody alongside him that is not fully committed to the cause, with USMNT midfielder Aaronson among those to have departed in the summer transfer window.
WHAT THEY SAID: Leeds skipper Cooper has told the Yorkshire Evening Post of what he said after slipping out of the top-flight: “After the Tottenham game last year when our fate was decided I was one to speak up in the changing room and I made it clear, if you don’t want to be here next season – I won’t repeat what I said, it was one of those. That’s the way it’s got to be. To play for this club you’ve got to invest in it, you’ve got to give your life for it and certainly, those in the stands won’t accept anything else apart from that. That was the message and the message is still the same. We need players who are invested. We’ve got a group of players now committed to the goal. We know what’s expected of us, we know the expectations of the club and we’ve got to go embrace that and hit it head-on. We all know what the Championship demands of each other, how committed you need to be and how hard it’s going to be to get out of it. Anybody who thinks it’s going to be a walk in the park or stroll then they’ve got a big shock coming. So that’s the message to the boys.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth later revealed on Twitter that Cooper’s message had been “if you don’t want to be here then f*ck off”, with Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, Rasmus Kristensen and Marc Roca among those to have departed.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? All of those mentioned above have left on loan, while Rodrigo has completed a permanent move to Al-Rayyan, with American playmaker Aaronson – who recorded just one goal through 40 appearances last season – set to spend the 2023-24 campaign with Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin.