Rachubka joins Leeds as Bates predicts busy July

KEN BATES expects Leeds United’s transfer dealings to spark into life next week.

The Elland Road club are, in common with many in the Championship, still waiting to kick-start their recruitment drive.

Talks have taken place with several targets, most notably Elland Road old boys Alan Smith, Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate.

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Ideally, Leeds would like to bring at least one marquee signing in before the squad returns to Thorp Arch for the start of pre-season training next Thursday.

As yet, Leeds have been unable to make the additions that Simon Grayson believes will help his side improve on last season’s seventh place finish.

Bates, though, insists that is likely to change next week as players start returning to their clubs following the summer break.

The United chairman said: “Next week is when the activity will start. Players are back from their holidays and we need to speak to them as well as their agents.

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“They report back on June 30 and I think you will see an explosion of activity over the next month, so please sit tight. We have got a good management team, they are doing a good job.”

Grayson, who last night signed Paul Rachubka on a free transfer from Blackpool, is targeting a first-choice goalkeeper, a left-back and a central defender, while he also wants to bolster a midfield that has lost Bradley Johnson and Neil Kilkenny.

Echoing Bates’s comments about the club’s transfer dealings, the United manager said: “It is just the norm that the first few weeks (of summer) are all about catching up on who is available, who has been released and what you want.”

Former Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Rachubka, 30, has signed a two-year contract at Elland Road.

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Grayson said: “I worked with Paul at Blackpool. We had a few years together and I know all about him. He is a good, experienced goalkeeper who will come in and challenge the squad.”

Leeds, who missed out on Keiren Westwood after the lure of the Premier League and Sunderland proved too much for the Coventry City goalkeeper, are still searching for a replacement for Leicester City-bound Kasper Schmeichel. They have been linked with both Newcastle’s Fraser Forster and Lee Grant of Burnley.