Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has introduced a gruelling pre-season schedule as the club integrates several major summer signings to build on last season's 14th-place Premier League finish.
Minority investor Michael Phelps watched the team beat Liverpool 4-2 in a Chicago friendly last week. The 23-time Olympic gold medallist has raised his children as Leeds fans and saw his team recover from a 2-0 deficit at Soldier Field, showcasing two training-ground throw-in routines reminiscent of NFL matches.
Leeds survived a relegation battle last season and are now targeting a top-half finish, with some hoping to emulate the European qualification achieved by Sunderland, Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Brentford within three years of promotion.
Gruelling pre-season
Farke, who dislikes the title "gaffer" and asks players to call him "boss", has borrowed Jurgen Klopp's lactate test. The 1km running drill measures how quickly lactic acid builds up compared to the body's ability to clear it, identifying which players maintained their fitness over the summer.
Pre-season began with two days of fitness testing, and footballs have been used every day but one. The squad has endured double sessions on many days, focusing on football in the morning and strength conditioning in the afternoon.
Record signing
The recruitment team noticed a Premier League trend toward direct football when Leeds were promoted 12 months ago, prompting a strategy to sign physically imposing players. Recent additions include the 6ft 4in Anton Stach, 6ft 3in pair Jaka Bijol and Sebastiaan Bornauw, and 6ft 1in duo Lukas Nmecha and Sean Longstaff.
Tarik Muharemovic fits the profile. Leeds signed the 6ft 4in Bosnia defender for £34 million from Sassuolo to replace Pascal Struijk. Muharemovic recently had his ankle trodden on by Folarin Balogun at the World Cup.
Leeds also broke their club transfer record to sign England goalkeeper James Trafford for £45 million from Manchester City, beating Newcastle United to the deal. A strong shot-stopper who is comfortable in possession, Trafford is viewed by some City observers as a better option than Gianluigi Donnarumma. Many in the England setup expect him to eventually succeed Jordan Pickford.
Harry Wilson arrives
The club sought flair alongside physicality, targeting Germany winger Julian Brandt before he joined Ajax. Instead, Leeds secured Harry Wilson on a free transfer after the winger decided to follow manager Marco Silva out of Fulham.
Wilson rejected approaches from several clubs, including Champions League qualifiers Aston Villa. Leeds originally pushed to sign him 12 months ago, proving they did not just want him because he was a free agent. Wilson declined a move last year to avoid turbulence ahead of playing in the World Cup with Wales.
Chairman Paraag Marathe, who recently stepped aside from the San Francisco 49ers to focus on football ventures including Rangers, played a key role. Across multiple phone calls, Marathe outlined the club's loyal fanbase and plans to increase capacity at Elland Road.
"After the first call I had with Leeds, with the chairman about the direction of the club, they were my number one choice," Wilson said. "I spoke to a couple of other teams and nothing changed my mind."
"The ownership group, the plans they have for the club. They know the size of the club with the fanbase and the history and the work they're doing to the stadium already to increase the capacity, the investment they're putting into the squad. It's all just going in one direction and that's what I want to be a part of," he added.
Welsh connections
Farke previously tried to sign Wilson for his former club Norwich City and called the winger to pitch the move. But Wilson said club captain and Wales teammate Ethan Ampadu was the most persistent.
"I almost had to block Ethan!" Wilson laughed. "He played a big role. I'm really close with all the Welsh boys here. DJ (Dan James), I've played with since we were 14. Joe (Rodon), similar."
Wilson enjoyed the best season of his career last year, recording ten league goals and seven assists. He now hopes Leeds can emulate Sunderland and Nottingham Forest by qualifying for Europe shortly after earning promotion.
"Clubs have shown in recent years that the first season back in the Premier League, it's all about making sure you stay up," he said. "But in the end, Leeds stayed up really comfortably last season. When you look at the likes of Sunderland and Forest, who've come up in recent years and have got into Europe, that's definitely an aim that we can have."
"But I think that second season syndrome has been the case with a few teams. So this season let's try and build on what the club created last year, that strong base, making sure our home form is good, which is massive and let's see where that takes us."
Transfer targets
The club is still looking to sign a versatile attacker and a deputy for injured left back Gabriel Gudmundsson. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored 15 goals in all competitions last season, but no teammate scored more than eight.
Winger Jack Harrison has left for Major League Soccer side New England Revolution. Farke believes United States international Brenden Aaronson is vastly underrated, but would welcome another creative player.
Leeds have three remaining friendlies to prepare the squad. They host RB Leipzig and Augsburg on back-to-back Saturdays before facing Manchester United at Croke Park in Dublin on Wednesday.
Formational switch
Farke is expected to keep the back-five formation that saved his job last season. The manager was sleepwalking toward the sack approaching Christmas, with Leeds in the relegation zone after six defeats in seven games leading up to December.
The tactical switch helped Leeds lose only five of their next 25 matches and reach the FA Cup semi-final, though Farke faced criticism for negative tactics at Wembley. He now wants to build on that defensive foundation with more exciting football.
An economics graduate who originally wanted to be a sporting director, Farke fell into coaching by accident. This is his third attempt at the Premier League after suffering two relegations with Norwich.
Sources say Farke believes relationships have a greater impact than tactics and is growing every week. The manager is a literature enthusiast whose favourite author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He also admires 19th-century poet Walt Whitman, noting that Whitman's line "I contain multitudes" reflects how leaders must contradict themselves to find answers.
