Goalkeepers: Courtois, Navas.
Defenders: Woodgate, Maguire, Koulibaly, Kurzawa, Clyne, Trippier, Stones, Bellerin, Bertrand.
Midfielders: Jorginho, Kondogbia, Brozović, Pogba, Paulinho, Allan, Adam Lallana, Schneiderlin.
Forwards: Benteke, Icardi, Vardy, Mané, Salah, Harry Kane, Zaha, Bolasie.
…
This was the squad Gao Shen assembled for Sarri ahead of the new season.
Setting aside Bellerin, who would start in the reserves for now, and Stones, who would be used as a substitute, Gao Shen had brought in exactly 25 core first-team players.
But that alone wasn't enough. Leeds United still retained a number of players from last season.
For example, goalkeeper Sean Higgs, a 33-year-old veteran, would serve as the third-choice keeper as a precaution.
There were also center-backs Neil Collins and Patrick Kisnorbo, right-back Jason Crowe who once played for Arsenal, last season's main holding midfielder Andy Hughes, and another key player, Bradley Johnson, who had performed well.
Among them, Bradley Johnson's contract had expired. However, after Goldman Sachs acquired Leeds United, Fernando Lucas preferred to retain the local midfielder. As a result, Johnson stayed on and signed a new three-year deal, showing the club's confidence in the 24-year-old.
This also reflected the cautious approach of Gao Shen, Lucas, and Borrell in building the squad.
The Championship has 46 matches, plus the FA Cup and League Cup. Leeds United would be facing a heavy fixture load this season. If the squad consisted only of new signings, the risks would be even greater.
Therefore, the most practical approach was to make Woodgate the team captain to lead the dressing room, while keeping key veterans like Bradley Johnson to maintain team stability.
As for Jonathan Howson and the others, they had already been sold.
After a lengthy preparation period and nearly two months of work, Leeds United's transfer operations were finally complete.
…
At his house in Wetherby, just north of Leeds, Gao Shen had returned from inspecting the renovations at the Thorp Arch training ground and was now hosting the first high-level meeting of the club ahead of the new season.
The meeting was attended by a full roster of club leadership.
From owner Gao Shen and chairman Su Qing, to Lucas and other executives, along with Sarri, Ramis, Pimienta, and other coaches and youth academy staff, plus department heads from across the club. The large living room was packed.
The air conditioning was on and all the windows and doors were shut. Even if someone passed by, they wouldn't have guessed that the upper management of Leeds United was holding a secret strategy meeting here. It added a little cloak-and-dagger intrigue to the scene.
At the beginning of the meeting, Su Qing, as chairman and head of finance, reported on the summer transfer activity.
Leeds United had earned £25 million from player sales and spent £19 million on new signings.
This meant that Leeds United had a net profit of £6 million in the summer transfer window.
The reason the spending reached £19 million was largely due to signings like Courtois and Trippier from Manchester City. Originally, the £5 million for those players could have been paid in installments, but after some thought, Gao Shen decided to pay it in full.
It was simple. Manchester City had already done them a big favor by letting those players go. It wouldn't be right to still owe them money.
So far, the £6 million in profit had already been spent—on renovations and expansions to the training base, and upgrades to the stadium, including small kiosks, maintenance costs, and new equipment.
Since Gao Shen demanded the club operate to Premier League standards, pitch maintenance and related facilities had also been elevated to a higher level.
Naturally, the club had hired more staff, especially in support roles, which also increased the overall wage burden.
More importantly, Leeds United's previous kit sponsor was an online betting company. Gao Shen no longer wanted any association with gambling companies, so Fernando Lucas was now leading efforts to find new sponsorship globally.
Su Qing would soon be leading a team to seek sponsors.
For any football club, shirt sponsorship and chest advertising are two major sources of income.
Leeds United's current kit sponsor was the Italian sportswear brand Ma, headquartered in Bologna. The contract, signed from 2009 to 2012, provided just £2 million per year. While that was meager compared to Premier League giants, it was actually decent by Championship standards.
Next, the club would introduce sleeve sponsors, which were expected to bring in additional revenue annually.
In short, Leeds United would need to do everything possible to generate revenue in the future.
…
Su Qing's report made everyone in the room acutely aware of the challenges facing the club, but also of Gao Shen's commitment.
The current situation was indeed not great, but Gao Shen's investment was genuine.
For example, just building the new training complex had cost over £1 million.
The geothermal heating installation and pitch maintenance upgrades, as well as the hiring of professional turf staff, were all done to Premier League standards.
It might not seem like a huge deal on the surface, but the yearly maintenance costs and wages would definitely exceed those of the old regime.
That was their perspective. But for Gao Shen, the pressure wasn't that heavy.
Because aside from the initial acquisition, he hadn't actually spent much of his own money.
More importantly, Napoli had just earned another massive sum of money—thanks to the generous Middle Eastern investors at Paris Saint-Germain.
This made Gao Shen even more ambitious.
"Everyone, we don't have much time to prepare," he said, his voice sharp and commanding in the quiet living room.
"I truly appreciate you all for being here today. I believe everyone sees the challenges we're facing. But what I want to emphasize is that as a football club, our only challenge is the Championship!"
He turned to Sarri. "Maurizio, you've got a big responsibility!"
Gao Shen wasn't worried about Sarri's ability or the quality of the players.
But caution was still necessary.
Leeds United's biggest challenge this season wouldn't come from player quality, but from integration and the dressing room.
How to quickly blend more than 20 players from all over the world into a cohesive unit in just over a month would be a major test of Sarri's coaching abilities.
Managing the locker room dynamics would also be a challenge.
If Gao Shen were coaching, he'd have no worries—he could control the whole situation.
But with Sarri, there were some concerns.
Nonetheless, the manager's authority had to be firmly established.
That's why Su Qing, Fernando Lucas, Borrell, and others would officially escort Sarri into his role to demonstrate the club's backing and trust.
In short, he signed two or three players for every position and let them fight it out. Whoever performed better played, whoever didn't would be benched or rotated out. Simple as that.
The only exception was Pogba.
Over the past few weeks, Gao Shen had discussed team matters with Sarri and reviewed player footage together.
Gao Shen believed Woodgate would be the backbone of the defense. As long as he stayed healthy, his quality was unquestionable. His experience and ability would drive the development of the young defenders.
In goal, it would be Courtois. In midfield, Paulinho and Pogba would be key. Up front, Benteke would be the main striker.
There you have it. The central spine of the team.
As for whether Sarri wanted to play 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, or 4-4-2, that was his call. He could adapt based on opponents.
Gao Shen would not interfere in that.
What he wanted was progress.
Sarri had great confidence in Gao Shen's eye for talent, and he believed in the quality of Leeds United's players. After three years working under Gao Shen, he had also learned many techniques for managing a squad.
Now was the time to put those into practice.
Sarri raised his head and responded loudly, "Don't worry. Leave it to me!"
Gao Shen was very pleased with his confidence and desire. He saw the fire of ambition in the Italian's eyes, and that was a very good sign.
Outside of the first team, the youth setup was also undergoing a complete restructuring.
At the moment, there were only two squads: the reserves and the U18s.
Once the training complex was finished and other facilities at Thorp Arch were renovated, the youth system would expand. Recruitment would continue, focusing on bringing in age-appropriate talent from across Yorkshire.
Currently, Leeds United's scouts were mainly active in local regions. Steve Walsh's scouting department was still hiring and needed more time.
You could say Leeds United was still in a fragile rebuilding phase. But at the same time, it was full of life and energy.
At the very least, Gao Shen could confidently say that no other team in the Championship had done what Leeds United had this season.
Of course, this was partly because the club had been completely hollowed out. But wasn't that also a sign of bold, high-level ambition?
And finally, Gao Shen said that even though he no longer worked for Leeds United and was managing Manchester City, he would still fight alongside them.
"I believe now more than ever that with all of you and our players, Leeds United will absolutely make it to the Premier League!"
(To be continued.)