At the conclusion of the 2023–24 season, several Leeds United stars’ contracts are expected to expire.
When their Elland Road contracts expire at the conclusion of the 2023–24 season, a number of important players for Leeds United are expected to leave.
After being demoted to the Championship last season, Leeds had a busy summer transfer window, with many incomings and outgoings authorised at the West Yorkshire club. The team said goodbye to important players Tyler Adams, Jack Harrison, and Robin Koch, and new manager Daniel Farke was charged with a significant rebuild.
The Whites spent almost £30 million on new players, who joined Leeds on season-long loans as well as permanent contracts. However, with focus already beginning to shift to the plans for next summer, Leeds could find themselves in a difficult position once more because seven first-team regulars have contracts that are all up for renewal.
Here are the seven Leeds players whose contracts expire at the end of the current season, according Transfermarkt.
Luke Ayling .
A modern-day Leeds icon, Ayling was a member of the Championship-winning team in 2019/20 and appeared regularly for the club during their three-year Premier League tenure. During his time at Leeds in England’s top division, the fullback made nearly 100 Premier League appearances, the vast majority of which were starts.
It appeared that Ayling would leave Leeds at the end of last season, but his previous contract, which pays him £25k per week, was extended in February 2023, so it is now set to expire in June 2024 instead. Ayling has made almost 260 appearances for the three-time English champions, and his exit, if it occurs at the end of the season, will mark the end of an era.
The 32-year-old, like teammate Ayling, has over 260 appearances in a United shirt and guided Leeds to promotion in 2019/20. Cooper, who will retain the armband in 2023/24, will be looking to duplicate that feat by leading Leeds to an immediate return to the Premier League. It remains to be seen whether he will still be at the club at that moment.
Liam Cooper
From one stalwart to another, Liam Cooper’s contract is also worth £25,000 a week and is about to expire. Cooper, dubbed a’real leader’ by journalist Dean Jones during an interview with GIVEMESPORT, has been a fixture at Elland Road since his arrival in 2014.
The 32-year-old, like teammate Ayling, has over 260 appearances in a United shirt and guided Leeds to promotion in 2019/20. Cooper, who will retain the armband in 2023/24, will be looking to duplicate that feat by leading Leeds to an immediate return to the Premier League. It remains to be seen whether he will still be at the club at that moment.
Like teammate Ayling, the 32-year-old has over 260 appearances in a United shirt and guided Leeds to promotion in 2019/20. Cooper, who will retain the armband for 2023/24, will be looking to duplicate that feat by leading Leeds to an immediate return to the Premier League. It’s unclear whether he’ll still be with the club by then.
Lewis Bate
Lewis Bate, a Chelsea academy graduate, moved to West Yorkshire in July 2021, signing a three-year contract with the club. Now that he’s nearing the conclusion of his initial contract, it’s reasonable to say the move hasn’t gone quite as planned for either party.
Bate spent the full 2022/23 season on loan at League One club Oxford United, where he appeared 35 times in all competitions. However, since his return to Elland Road, the midfielder has struggled for playing time, making just one senior appearance in the opening 13 games of the season.
Jamie Shackleton
Jamie Shackleton, the first and only Leeds Academy alumnus on this list, came into the Whites‘ first squad in 2018, but has yet to reach the heights many expected of him. Instead, it appears that the Wakefield-born sensation will be permitted to leave the club when his contract expires in the summer, five years after making his senior debut.
Shackleton was a regular for Millwall when on loan there last season, proving he can play in the Championship. However, the 24-year-old midfielder is in a race against time to persuade the United management that he is deserving of a contract extension beyond next summer.
Ian Poveda
Ian Poveda, another of Leeds’ 2019/20 title winners, has had a tumultuous time at the club, and it appears that the ex-Manchester City young prospect is set to leave the club this summer.
Poveda joined Leeds in the middle of the season and scarcely featured for the Yorkshire club during the title run-in, making only four league games from January onwards. From there, it’s been a difficult ride for the former England under-20 international, who has been loaned out twice during his Leeds career, first to Blackburn Rovers in the 2021/22 season, then to Blackpool the following season.
Sam Byram
Sam Byram, a cult icon at Elland Road, has returned to the club where he earned his name this season, signing a short-term contract with the Championship team. Farke sanctioned the recruitment of Byram as part of Leeds’ summer rebuilding. Byram made over 100 appearances for Leeds between 2012 and 2016.
Despite his happy return, Byram only signed a one-year contract, which means the 30-year-old could be out the door again when the season ends. Given that he was a regular starter for Leeds during the 2023/24 season, it’s doubtful he won’t be awarded a new contract. However, depending on their promotion prospects, Byram could be looking for a new club again next summer.
Stuart Dallas
Finally, another modern-day Elland Road icon, Stuart Dallas, is the seventh Leeds player whose contract is slated to expire at the end of the current season next summer.
Dallas is reportedly paid £45,000 a week, making him one of the club’s biggest earners, with United executives no doubt leery of overspending on player contracts. That might be an issue for the Northern Ireland defender if he wants to extend his eight-year contract with the club.
Dallas, who joined Leeds for a bargain price of £1.5 million in 2015, has made over 260 appearances for the club and will undoubtedly go down in history. However, due to a terrible leg break suffered at the tail end of the 2021/22 season in a game against Man City, Dallas was unable to play in any of Leeds’ 2022/23 fixtures and will most likely be released when his contract ends at the end of the 2023/24 season.
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