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MARCHING on together has been the battle cry of Leeds United for half a century.For the past few seasons there has, in the main, been no doubt about which direction they have been heading, either.
Both Manchester giants have been linked with Leeds’ local hero Kalvin PhillipsCredit: Getty
Barcelona and Chelsea are thought to be keen on Elland Road winger RaphinhaCredit: Getty
A Championship romp one year, a barnstorming return to life in the top flight the next.
While the last one was a little too close for comfort, it was ultimately mission accomplished in surviving that oh-so-tricky second season back in the Premier League.
A top-tier foothold established then, and chance to start edging one of football’s big names back to where they feel they belong.
After all, this isn’t a Watford or a Fulham, Burnley or a Brighton, where simply a Prem place is the be-all and end-all.
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We’re talking Leeds, a club of tradition and a history of going toe-to-toe with the best. One where the fans were starting to believe again. And to demand.
Why on earth wouldn’t they, and why shouldn’t they dream?
They may have struggled last term but the one before they got results against the best.
Four points from Manchester City, beating Spurs, and also draws with Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
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Local lad Kalvin Phillips became a star for England.
Patrick Bamford was  capped by the Three Lions, too, while Raphinha became a Brazil regular.
Last term’s woes came as the first two made a combined 40 fewer starts, so with both fit from the off this campaign they could have been building towards another season to remember.
The right noises were coming from above, too. They rejected West Ham’s £55million-plus January bid for Phillips, and said Raphinha was staying.
All it needed was for the manager to get a decent pot this summer, something they’d held back on before, and there was cause for optimism.
To be fair, Jesse Marsch has spent a few quid. But if he’d hoped to do so on additions, the new faces will instead be replacements.
Phillips has gone to Manchester City for over £5m LESS than the offer rejected six months ago — and losing the heart of their midfield is massive.
Raphinha is on the point of packing his bags, too.
It leaves you wondering what the plan is, and doubting what managerial control Marsch has, when financial decisions that will have a huge impact are being taken above his head.
Leeds boss Jesse Marsch has plenty of work to do on the transfer frontCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
He’s clearly there as a coach, and nothing more. It makes you ask whether it’s the reason he was chosen to replace Marcelo Bielsa.
Phillips was not necessarily looking to move.
He wanted more money, fair enough, why wouldn’t he?
He played in the Euros final a year ago. But he wasn’t agitating, and was not demanding: “It’s dough or I go.”
And while the appeal of City is obvious, he won’t play as much as if he had stayed at Elland Road.
And what of Raphinha, who has got Leeds out of so many sticky situations in the past? He wins few admirers with his sulks, but he’s won plenty of games with his magic.
Losing one would maybe be acceptable and explainable. But for both your star players to leave in the same window?
That isn’t the move of a club determined to shoulder its way back among the big boys — whatever they say.
It is the action of one happy to merely be in the Premier League — and pretty much nothing else.
An acceptance that mediocrity and hopefully — given a couple of decent draws — a bit of a cup run will do.
It seems the Leeds power brokers are proving they will be happy with survival and very little else. And have taken a hell of a gamble to get it.
The arrivals include Salzburg duo Rasmus Kristensen and Brenden Aaronson, plus midfielder Marc Roca, who made ten starts in two years with Bayern Munich.
Others are being mentioned but all are players most fans will have to Google to learn who they are.
They may all turn out to be superstars. But Leeds had a couple of their own already.
Couldn’t they have done more to keep them? At least gone through the facade of it?
Maybe if you’d shown you were willing to take a punt, and  to invest a little more this summer, they may have given you another year.
Don’t forget the manager hardly has a been-there-done-it, deep-rooted knowledge of the league either.
It just seems that the Leeds power brokers are proving they will be happy with survival and very little else. And have taken a hell of a gamble to get it.
Marching on together? Perhaps stumbling along in hope would be more apt.
CUT JACK SOME SLACK
WHY all the fuss about Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish’s Las Vegas holiday with his mates?
When he was pictured clearly a  little worse for wear, it seemed the world and his dog had an opinion. Most of them put the boot in.
One loon even said he is in danger of going down the same road as Gazza. No getting carried away there, then! Absolute b******s. Grealish is 26, earns a good whack and gets the chance for one proper holiday a year.
If he comes back out of shape, is way off it in pre-season training and checks himself into The Priory, then fair enough.
Until then let him, and all the other players who may have had the odd one too many these past few weeks, enjoy their time off.
Envy is never a good look.
TASTY TRIBUTE
ON the subject of Jack Grealish, in an age when footballers are feted with statues and paintings on the side of buildings, here’s one of the more bizarre…
Swinton fast food joint Food Station has recently rebranded itself as Jack Grillish, in tribute to the Manchester City and England star. You certainly can’t knock their nerve for it, either.
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Swinton is in the City of Salford — the heart of Manchester United territory.
The chances of earning a Michelin star may be slim but it definitely deserves an award for bravery. More

IN six years as Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola has never been bitten on the backside by allowing a player to leave.So the potential sale of Raheem Sterling to Chelsea may be the biggest gamble of his Etihad reign.
Man City winger Raheem Sterling could be on his way to ChelseaCredit: AP
Pep Guardiola might regret letting Sterling leave in his primeCredit: Reuters
For a man who demands risk-taking from his players, the Catalan has been extremely cautious in allowing key players to hop it.
Usually those at the core of Guardiola’s plans only depart when their elite playing days are over — such as Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Vinny Kompany, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho.
Edging out Joe Hart was a bold early shout which worked out well. Leroy Sane and Ferran Torres were two decent players in their early twenties who wanted to leave.
But there has been nothing with the potential to sting Guardiola quite like flogging Sterling.
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Sun;font-size:18px;line-height:1.333;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0%;font-stretch:normal;display:inline;}.css-i1acvs:hover:not(:disabled){-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}BLUES LATEST .css-8h3gc3{margin:0;padding:0;color:rgba(34,37,38,1);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:The Sun;font-size:18px;line-height:1.333;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0%;font-stretch:normal;display:inline;}.css-8h3gc3:hover:not(:disabled){-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Raheem Sterling transfer LATEST, Maxwell on list to replace Petr Cech
The forward is 27 years old, with an excellent fitness record. He is a four-time title-winner who was Footballer of the Year in 2019, and would have been Player of the Tournament at last summer’s Euros had England won the penalty shootout in the final.
He has scored 109 Premier League goals. Among players who are not out-and-out strikers, only Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane have more.
Sterling is an A-lister — thrilling dribbler, outspoken campaigner, MBE and razor salesman.
Yet he has been gradually squeezed out at City over two summers. First, by the £100million arrival of Jack Grealish, who, like Sterling, prefers to start wide-left.
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And now, after a season in which Sterling often operated as a ‘false nine’, by the signings of two elite, young centre-forwards in Erling Haaland of Norway and Argentina’s Julian Alvarez.
City’s attacking style will change with those additions and Sterling, along with new Arsenal signing Gabriel Jesus, look like the two to make way.
Talks over a new contract for Sterling stalled last season and City would rather sell for close to £60m, even to rivals Chelsea, than allow him to enter the final year of his existing deal.
Sterling got restless late in the 2020-21 season when he was benched for City’s Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals.
During his outstanding Euros campaign, he suggested he was happier with England than City.
And last term, despite 23 Premier League starts and 13 goals, Sterling found himself on the bench for both legs of the Champions League semi-finals against Real Madrid.
For the title-clinching victory over Aston Villa, Sterling was not introduced until the 56th minute, whereafter he was instrumental in overturning a 2-0 deficit.
Yet still Guardiola doesn’t seem to fancy him enough.
A man as diligent as the Catalan won’t have been fooled by the idea that Sterling simply misses too many chances – an accusation not backed up by statistical comparisons with other elite forwards.
Gareth Southgate – England’s most successful boss since Alf Ramsey, however maligned he is right now – has always sworn by Sterling, despite several high-class wide options, and clearly prefers him to Grealish.
So there is an air of disbelief – even among some City players – that Sterling is being allowed to go.
There have been no denials about the widely-reported story that Sterling has already spoken to Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel.
This would be an illegal ‘tap-up’ had City had any qualms about allowing Sterling to join the Blues.
The move is also risky for Sterling – not only because of the infamous racist abuse he suffered at Stamford Bridge three and half years ago.
Chelsea are a club in flux, the team’s defence and the club’s hierarchy are undergoing complete overhaul, with new owner Todd Boehly currently opting for a jack-of-all-trades role rarely seen since dear old Ron Noades was in his pomp.
With Romelu Lukaku gone, and unlikely to be replaced like-for-like, Sterling might find himself operating centrally as often as he was at City.
And having played for Liverpool and City, what is there left for Sterling to achieve in English domestic football? Why not a move abroad, with Real Madrid and Barcelona long-term admirers?
It would be an intriguing move for Sterling and an impressive statement of intent from Boehly.
But for Guardiola, that infamous ‘over-thinker’, this might be a rare case of not thinking carefully enough.

ROO TO BOSS IT
Wayne Rooney performed miracles at Derby before quitting last weekCredit: Getty
THERE is a trend towards great former Prem players getting decent managerial jobs now — Patrick Vieira, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Vinny Kompany among them.
This tendency didn’t exist a few years ago and it is good news for Wayne Rooney, as he completes his coaching qualifications ahead of a likely move into top-flight management.
I visited Pride Park on Good Friday, to see Derby beat champions-elect Fulham just days before their own drop into League One.
The spirit in a young Rams team — struck by a massive points deduction and  frequent sale of senior players — as well as strong  home support, hinted that Rooney had created something special amid adversity.
Those who never imagined Rooney as a successful boss tend to be those who never met him.
The all-time record scorer for England and Manchester United may become the first to prove himself a true great as both a Prem manager and player.

WORLD WIDE WEBB
HOWARD WEBB is not just a former World Cup final referee.
He is an intelligent, forward-thinking, media-savvy man, whose imminent appointment as England’s refereeing chief is exactly what our men in black need.
Under Webb’s leadership, referees might even be allowed to speak regularly in public again.
And then we might even know what the hell is going on with VAR.

JACK IS SUPER
DESPITE all the gay abandon of England’s positive approach to batting, one of the most pleasing aspects of the series whitewash of New Zealand has been the emergence of Jack Leach as a true Test-class spinner.
Until this weekend, Leach was best known as the bloke wiping sweat from his spectacles and scoring one scrambled run during the extraordinary last-wicket stand with Ben Stokes which won the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley.
Now, under the captaincy of Stokes, Leach is finally flourishing in his day job, with a ten-wicket haul in Leeds.
Three years ago, Leach was likened here as Clark Kent to Stokes’ Superman. But England’s skipper will soon be  giving his old mate a pair of underpants to wear over his whites.

ICONS’ END OF AN ERA
This summer could be our last glimpse of British sporting icons like Jimmy Anderson… or maybe notCredit: AP
THIS summer might be a last chance to see three all-time greats of British sport — Lewis Hamilton, Andy Murray and Jimmy Anderson.
After seven world titles and being robbed of a record eighth, Hamilton, 37, is struggling for motivation ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
And his once-supreme Mercedes now resembles a rusty ringer out of Exchange and Mart.
At 35, Murray — Britain’s finest tennis player since the Second World War — has a metal hip and may struggle to make it back to Wimbledon next year.
As for Anderson, the most prolific seam bowler in Test cricket history, well he will turn 40 next month.
I once made the mistake of kicking off an interview with Anderson by assuming the following winter’s tour of Australia would be his swansong — and that was five years ago.
So I’m not going to rule out the possibility of Anderson playing Test cricket at 50. Or headlining Glastonbury at 80…
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RUGGER RACE SHAME
RUGGER bores love to look down their noses at football.
But revelations from ex-England centre Luther Burrell of a culture of casual racism in rugby union dressing rooms suggests that sport – like cricket – is an entire generation behind football on such issues.
There is no room for public-school sneering. More