The Whites were relegated from the Premier League last season after a miserable campaign that saw them pick up just seven wins all season and finish in 19th place. And with owner Andrea Radrizzani selling up to 49ers Enterprises, there was a huge amount of changes made at Leeds behind the scenes.
Prior to Radrizzani’s departure, the club had also relieved long-serving director of football Victor Orta from his duties after losing Radrizzani’s trust and ultimately having too much of a say on matters at Elland Road.
The 49ers’ first mission, however, was to appoint a new manager, having gone through four different coaches over the course of a panic-fuelled 2022/23 campaign.
And when Farke was the man chosen having recently left Borussia Monchengladbach, Leeds then turned their focus to bringing in Hammond to help oversee what all at the club knew would be a busy summer.
Indeed, a total of 15 first-team players departed Elland Road, many of whom taking advantage of clauses in their deal that allowed them to leave the club on loan deals in the event of relegation.
To that end, Marc Roca, Robin Koch, Max Wober, Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Diego Llorente, Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra were among those to exploit that arrangement and secure moves away.
Rodrigo Moreno and Tyler Adams also moved on in permanent deals, leaving Leeds with something of a major rebuild on their hands.
However, the arrival of Hammond, who has previously worked wonders at both Celtic and Newcastle, could not have gone better for Leeds.
Given the unenviable task of rebuilding a sizeable portion of their squad, Hammond – and Leeds – have recruited soundly and brought in a series of players who have very quickly made impacts at Elland Road.
To that end, Ethan Ampadu, Joel Piroe, Sam Bryam, Joe Rodon and Glen Kamara have all made hefty impressions with Leeds going into the restart in third place and as the division’s form side with six wins from their last seven outings.
With Djed Spence still to come in, having suffered an injury on debut, there could yet be another shrewd addition waiting to strut his stuff too.
As a result, Hammond deserves enormous credit for both spotting such opportunities and for pushing through their signings.
Having also decided to retain the services of Georginio Rutter and Crysensio Summerville and bring Dan James back in from the cold, it’s proved a real joint effort alongside the wily coaching and sublime man-management of Farke.
Hammond was initially appointed by Leeds as a temporary transfer consultant, designed to get them through that difficult summer window.
However, after his early success at Elland Road, The Athletic’s Phil Hay has revealed that an agreement is now in place to keep Hammond at the helm for the next two transfer windows at least.
That means the 56-year-old will help Leeds in their quest for further squad strengthening in January, while he will also be in charge come the summer and in the possible event that Leeds are preparing for their return to the Premier League.
After the very public theatrics of his precessor Orta, very little is seen of Hammond, whos quietly and efficiently gets on with the task in hand and tends to shun the limelight, leaving that to Farke. And that’s exactly how a director of football; technical advisor; sporting director; transfer consultant – call it what you will, ought to be!
Clearly Hammond has earned the trust of Farke and it’s understood the decision to hand Hammond an extended stay in the role was agreed to upon talks between chief executive Angus Kinnear, chairman Paraag Marathe and Farke.
Farke, though, had the ultimate say and it’s clear Hammond has quickly earned the trust and respect of the German.
No longer a temporary advisor, Leeds can now plan ahead with Hammond, the man who clearly has a very sharp eye for a transfer.
