Leeds United will look back on the 2025/26 season in the Premier League with a lot of fondness.

Indeed, the Whites bucked the trend of the newly promoted side immediately falling back down to the Championship, alongside Sunderland, with a comfortable 14th final finish, despite coming unstuck to West Ham United 3-0 on the final day, who did succumb to the drop.

Yet, now is the time not to rest on their laurels, as Daniel Farke will be eyeing an even better finish next season, instead of falling victim to that cliched second season slump.

He will want to be backed in the transfer market to make improvements here and there to his squad, with last summer's window proving to be key in securing survival.

Leeds plot move to sign £20m EFL star

If Leeds hadn't gambled on the free transfer of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, they could have headed to the London Stadium on the final day in their own relegation bother.

Thankuflly, Calvert-Lewin's 14 Premier League goals have handed Farke and Co a reliable marksman all season long, as he snatched a last-minute winner during Leeds' final game at Elland Road this season versus Brighton and Hove Albion.

The likes of Noah Okafor, Jaka Bijol, and Gabriel Gudmundsson have also all seamlessly fit into Farke's first-team plans, after leaving Europe behind last summer, with Leeds hopeful that a foray into the EFL market can work wonders as well.

As per Football Insider, the West Yorkshire titans are reported to be plotting a move to snap up Southampton star Shea Charles, as the Saints prepare to lose a boatload of players this off-season, due to the Spygate scandal rumbling on.

The Northern Ireland international has a lot of admirers, including Leeds, who are noted as holding long-term interest in the 22-year-old midfielder, ever since he was out on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are named as being the other keen parties from the Premier League looking at the one-time Manchester City starlet.

But, Farke will hope his team can advance to the front of the growing queue to win the Saints' number 24's services, as the German could land his next Ethan Ampadu by snapping up the £20m-rated battler.

How Charles can be Farke's next Ampadu

The Wales international has a lot to thank the former Norwich City manager for, as his career has skyrocketed ever since he swapped his boyhood club, Chelsea, for Leeds, with Ampadu just named as Leeds' Player of the Year.

Before embarking on this adventure at Elland Road, Ampadu was struggling to cut his teeth in the senior game, with several loan spells away from the Blues not working out.

Now, however, he's 126 appearances into his spell at Leeds as a crucial part of Farke's relentless machine, with 61 Premier League outings next to his name, too, making him an "indispensable" part of the German's camp, as per talent scout Jacek Kulig.

Shea Charles will be aiming to become a Premier League regular at Elland Road, like Ampadu, if a move comes to fruition, with Charles having to mature quickly at Southampton, in a similar fashion to the one-time Chelsea youngster at Leeds, after being discarded by Pep Guardiola and Co in 2023.

Ampadu instantly showed he was cut out for the bright lights of the Premier League in West Yorkshire, after two formative seasons in the Championship, with Leeds' title-winning season seeing him average an unerring 90% pass accuracy per second-tier match, alongside winning a lively 5.1 duels per league clash.

Based on the 22-year-old's own standout numbers in the second tier at St. Mary's, he could also explode into life in the Premier League, with four goals and two assists collected from only 22 starts this season, further backed up by an Ampadu-like calmness on the ball, with an 85% pass accuracy average registered.

Winning a tenacious 4.7 duels per game, as well, Leeds could look back on landing Charles for only £20m as a steal, like they now do when reminiscing on snapping up their captain for only £7m three years ago.

Farke has managed to get so much out of his group of players this season, and with Charles noted by EFL expert Ali Maxwell as a "£50m-£60m player" in two seasons time, he could become as crucial as Ampadu is to his first-team plans down the line.

Capable of scoring a screamer, too, like this first-time effort against Oxford United, the number 24 will be ready to grasp this Premier League opportunity with both hands if it comes his way this summer.