2009/10 to 2017/18

Leeds United never reached the Premier League in the nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18, spending eight in the Championship and one lower down. Their best finish was 7th in the Championship, in 2010/11 and 2016/17. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £28.6m in transfer fees and took in £45.9m, a net profit of £17.3m.

Leeds United spent 2009/10 in League One, came up, and then spent eight seasons in the Championship going nowhere in particular. Seventh in 2010/11 and again in 2016/17 were the closest they came to the play-offs. The rest were finishes between 12th and 15th.

The departures list is painful reading. Fabian Delph left for Aston Villa in 2009 and Kasper Schmeichel for Leicester in 2011, where he would win the league. Robert Snodgrass went to Norwich in 2012, Ross McCormack to Fulham for £11m in 2014, and Chris Wood, signed for £3m, was sold to Burnley for £15m in 2017.

For a club of Leeds' size and support, that is a decade of underachievement. On 115.football the fix is obvious. Keep Delph, keep Schmeichel in goal, keep the goalscorers, and use £900m to fill the gaps. Elland Road has waited long enough.