Two days before Manchester United come to Elland Road, the one question that has followed Daniel Farke into every press conference this season finally got an answer. Not from him, mind. On Friday afternoon The Athletic reported that Farke and Leeds United have reached an agreement in principle on a new contract running to 2029. Paperwork still to be finalised and signed, broad structure agreed, and Leeds declining to comment. His current deal runs out next summer, Leeds go into Sunday seventh and beaten once in six, and only Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery have been in their Premier League jobs longer. Within hours the Leeds rooms were on it, and a few of them had already got him signed, sealed and delivered.
"Massive, massive news"
The Leeds Lens saw it on the phone and was on air almost straight away. "Major breaking news," then a fair few more "massives" than strictly necessary. The title says Farke SIGNS. The stream itself is more careful than the title, to be fair. "Bear in mind this is still not actually done yet. It's an agreement in principle. It's not signed and sealed and delivered." Then, a breath later: "This is done. This is done."
Strip out the excitement and there's a proper argument in here. A manager in the last year of his deal makes every January and summer target ask the same question, and the Leeds Lens reckons that uncertainty was the only thing still hanging over the club. Players buy into a manager, it says, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin is named as one who'd want to know Farke is staying. There's a cheeky bit on timing too. Drop it on the eve of the United game and "if you were Man United, you'd be looking at this going, 'Oh, did they have to release that then?'"
Over the moon
Leeds Bros kept it short and very happy. "This is fantastic news. I'm absolutely over the moon with this one and it is fully deserved." A good chunk of the video is a look back at the mess Farke walked into in 2023: players wanting out, managers coming and going, nobody sure who would still be there by September. The way the channel tells it, he steadied the ship first and built the team second.
Leeds Bros admits there was a rough patch last season, and that's why the new deal lands as a statement as much as an extension. The owners, the new stadium plans and the manager are all pointing the same way, and the channel sounds like it can barely believe it. It signs off by hoping the new deal ends with a win over United at Elland Road, which "would be absolutely amazing".
"How wrong was I?"
The best watch in the pile is Imagine Not Being Leeds, because it starts with a confession. "I wanted him sacked after the Forest game last season." The channel didn't think Farke had the tactical nous to turn it round. "How wrong was I?"
It's a nice bit of honesty from a fan channel, and it's why the reaction works. "This is why we are not managers of our football club." The deal is described correctly too: agreed in principle, formalities still to be finalised. Then it's back to the cheering. "I couldn't be any more chuffed to bits to be wrong."
Farke goes full Elvis
OneLeeds1919 puts the contract in the title, then spends the opening stretch of its Friday night live on the bit of the day Farke actually spoke about, his pre-United press conference. Dan James has a chance of making the squad against his old club. Joe Rodon will miss out. And then there's the line everyone clipped. Asked about a first Premier League win over United at Elland Road in 24 years, Farke went to Elvis: "a little less conversation, a little more action."
What gets the room going is Farke defending Michael Carrick. Per BBC Sport, Farke said Carrick has done "excellently" and that he doesn't like or understand the criticism young British coaches get. OneLeeds1919 gets the point but isn't buying it for United. Young managers need clubs willing to give them time, and in its view United aren't one: "best believe if they lose this game at the weekend, it'll be gone." That's what lands hardest this week. One manager is getting a new deal. The other one is being written off before kick-off.
The view from the other end
For the United side of Sunday, UnitedViewTV brought a Leeds-supporting guest into its own studio for the preview, and he still wore an Atlético Madrid shirt the week United lost to them. Bold. Under all the banter, the guest makes a serious case for Farke. When his job looked shaky, the switch to a back three "changed everything", and Leeds have been "very, very hard to beat" ever since.
The host has stopped pretending this is a normal away day. "Leeds are a very good side," he says, and the title says the rest: Leeds smell blood. For a Manchester United channel to sit in its own studio hearing how well the Leeds manager has turned it round, in the same week Martinez went after the board, tells you which club looks settled right now.
The argument
Nobody in the Leeds rooms is arguing about whether Farke deserves it. Even the channel that wanted him sacked has come round. The real question is what the deal is for. The Leeds Lens wants it to steady the club for January and the summer. Leeds Bros thinks the whole club is finally pulling the same way. OneLeeds1919 just wants the three points. Until Leeds say it's done, it's still an agreement in principle. Sunday at Elland Road is where Farke gets to show it's the right call, against a United side whose manager is already being written off.