This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

It’s not quite panic stations yet for Leeds United, but these words should act as a stark warning.

Former player Danny Mills has stressed just how important promotion is for Leeds this season, and that it could be a case of do or die for the club.

What’s he said?

Speaking to Talksport, Mills said that the amount of money being spent on players wages meant that there could be tough times ahead:

“The wage bill at the moment for Leeds, including the manager and his staff, is £35/£40million. That is big for the Championship. They need to get up this season. If they don’t, you start to worry again.

“The owner has just come out and done a rare interview and said there might be new investment and he could be looking to sell the club. We’ve known that for some time. But if they don’t go up this season with that sort of wage bill… it will be difficult times again for Leeds.”

Bang on the money

It’s well known just how much money there is in the Premier League, £170m to be exact if you get promoted, and Mills is spot on with his estimations that failure to go up could cause a bit of a meltdown.

There were reports last season that a sort of implosion could take place at Elland Road if they didn’t get promoted, with Marcelo Bielsa set to depart and the owner ready to sell the club.

Having doubled down with loan signings in order to push them over the line, failure to do so would leave them having to build a new squad without a lot of money to work with.

That’s why this season is arguably one of the biggest in Leeds’ history. Failure to get promotion this year could result in a large step back in their efforts to get back to the top flight for the first time since 2004.

So just how long can Leeds afford to flirt with disaster before the consequences of taking these risks come home to roost? Only time will tell.