Leeds head coach Daniel Farke says he is “not the right choice” to remain in charge of the club if they fail to match his ambition in the summer.
Farke led Leeds to Premier League safety with three games to spare in their first campaign back in the top flight, but said the club needs to do more than just maintain “the status quo” next season.
The 49-year-old German added that all the targets agreed when he arrived in 2023 had been met and it was time for the next “project” at Elland Road.
Farke also said there is “no doubt in my head” that he wants to stay on as manager.
“I’m ambitious and this is quite important for me going forward,” Farke said before Sunday’s final home game of the season against Brighton.
“I love attractive football, perhaps for sides in the top half of the table, but I love to be a manager who plays for something rather than to avoid something.
“I’m not the right choice if it’s about maintaining the status quo. I have to be convinced of a project and I am at my best when I buy into a project. I can be picky and choose what I am convinced of.”
Leeds sit in 14th in the Premier League table, eight points clear of the relegation zone, having also reached their first FA Cup semi-final since 1987 this season.
The club have progressed in each of Farke’s seasons with the club, reaching the 2023-24 play-off final in their first campaign in the Championship after Premier League relegation, then winning promotion as champions last year.
Farke twice won the second-tier title with Norwich but struggled in the Premier League, and media reports suggested he may be sacked, external by Leeds in the 2025 pre-season despite having taken the West Yorkshire side into the top flight.
However the German now finds himself in a strong negotiating position with club owners 49ers Enterprises, whom he thanked in his news conference along with his players and the club’s fans.
“Leeds have had one good season in the Premier League in the last 25 years, the [first] season with Marcelo [Bielsa], and we didn’t build on it,” said Farke.
“You have to develop and you have to evolve. This is what I stand for, so it’s important that we speak internally together and very trustfully together.
“There is no doubt in my head, but it’s important that we don’t just write the story ongoing. I’m full of belief and energy, but we have to speak realistically about what the goals are and what the next steps are and to have a vision.
“We had a three-year plan and we have to have similar again. If you just try to survive again then what happens is what happens last time (when Leeds were relegated in 2023).
“I know what is possible here at Leeds United and how much I believe in this club, but it is important we are all on the same page because I don’t run the club. I run the squad and it is important we talk.
“Can we keep our best players, can we get new players? One thing is for sure, I will just lead a project when I am in charge and we have to speak about it like we did three years ago, very honestly, because just to survive for one more year makes no sense.”
