HOW CLOSE IS ELLAND ROAD TO HOSTING EUROPEAN NIGHTS?

Back in August 2014, former Forest Green Rovers manager Dave Hockaday – clinging desperately to the final few of his 70 days in charge of Leeds United – said it was “inevitable” that maverick chairman Massimo Cellino would take the club into the Champions League, and he wanted to be “a big part of that journey”.

Some days, that feels like a lifetime ago. Other times, it feels like yesterday. Every Leeds fan fears waking up to find that Marcelo Bielsa never came to Yorkshire, and it was all a crazy dream. To outsiders, much of the noise around Leeds can come across as annoying bluster but, secretly, the 20 years that followed the club’s Champions League semi- final defeat to Valencia have left fans quite fragile.

It may have looked last season as if Leeds were swaggering into their final position of ninth ( once they’d finished staggering to 6- 2 defeats, at least), but the target was never higher than 17th. Director of football Victor Orta said he’d throw himself into the River Aire if Leeds were relegated without fans seeing Premier League football at Elland Road.

So, apart from bettering a league- high 15 goals conceded from set- pieces, what targets do you set when you’ve just overachieved so enormously? European qualification? Well, why not?

The joy and fear of 2020- 21 came from watching players who won the Championship, many of them inherited rather than signed by Bielsa, stepping up to a higher level. Leeds spent around £ 95 million, but injuries, COVID and poor form meant only Raphinha, the dazzling winger, made a big impact.

Two international defenders arrived, in Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, but it was unheralded 21- year- old Pascal Struijk who shone. Rodrigo, the club’s record signing, was only just hitting form at the season’s end. We’ve yet to see how much the squad was improved by last summer’s business.

United’s renaissance, as everyone now realises, is down to Bielsa getting from players what they didn’t know they had. For three years, people have discussed burnout, but each season the players improve and go harder for longer. It’s tough playing for Leeds – other clubs win as much without the Murderball – but none of the players look as if they’ve had enough of the journey yet. Quite the opposite.

In fact, the Whites have come so far that even Dave Hockaday’s dreams have started to make sense.