Exclusive: Leeds United sent warning over focus on height by ex-Liverpool, Arsenal and Portsmouth winger
Five of Leeds United’s summer signings - Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff and Lukas Nmecha - are over 6ft tall.
Only left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson, signed from Lille, falls short of the mark at 5ft 11in.
Much has been made of Leeds’ focus on tall players, with the ‘land of the giants’ approach quickly being picked up on by fans and pundits alike.
Height is far from the only metric Leeds have explored, but there is undeniably a theme in the recruitment.
Premier League challenge
In the two years Leeds spent away from the Premier League, the gulf in quality between England’s top two tiers has only become more evident.
The importance of shrewd recruitment has never been clearer and Leeds will be desperate for their investment in height to pay dividends.
Former Premier League winger Jermaine Pennant, who spent the 2003/04 season on loan at Leeds from Arsenal, has weighed in on the business conducted at Elland Road.
Jermaine Pennant on Leeds United’s recruitment
"It has its pros, put it that way,” he told The Yorkshire Post via Adventure Gamers. “We saw Arsenal at corners and set-pieces, Leeds will now definitely be a threat in the box.
"But if you're just relying on that in the Premier League, then it's going to be a long season.”
Leeds recently gave some of their new signings a first run-out in a friendly clash with Manchester United.
There were promising signs in the 0-0 draw and Pennant does not believe Leeds will be relying solely on height advantage to outwit their Premier League rivals.
He said: “You need more than just height to keep clean sheets, to score goals, from set-pieces.
"They have got the ability to do that, but I guess they want to be defensively solid at set-pieces with the height and maybe attacking-wise.
“I'm sure they won't just rely on that because if they do, it's going to be a long season in the Premier League, because there's so much more to the Premier League.”