Richard Sutcliffe: No time to lose if Leeds are to keep hold of prized assets

It is also a proverb that Leeds United would do well to remember after allowing no less than five key members of last season's promotion-winning squad to enter the final year of their contract with no new deal in place.

Luciano Becchio, Bradley Johnson, Neil Kilkenny, Richard Naylor and Patrick Kisnorbo are the players whose futures beyond next summer are up in the air.

Their value to the club is undeniable, perhaps being best underlined by the quintet having made 166 league appearances between them last season alone.

Only the injured Kisnorbo did not start the opening-day defeat to Derby County last Saturday, while all five were in the starting line-up at Old Trafford last January as Leeds pulled off the major shock of last season's FA Cup by knocking out Manchester United.

The Yorkshire Post understands discussions have opened over possible new deals, but have not got very far.

It is a situation that, for United fans, will have worrying parallels with how Jermaine Beckford was able to run down his contract before leaving on a free transfer last summer.

The 26-year-old striker turned down the offer of a new deal towards the end of the 2008-09 season, believing he was worth more than the reputed 6,000 per week the club were offering.

A stalemate ensued, even after Beckford had handed in a transfer request on December 30 after Newcastle United registered the first of two unsuccessful bids.

The request was subsequently withdrawn the following month amid suggestions an offer of around 20,000 per week was on the table from Everton providing he joined on a free transfer in the summer.

That duly happened, and as an aside one of the more fascinating aspects of the new fledgling season will be how Leeds fare without a striker who netted 84 goals over the past three years.

In fairness to the Elland Road hierarchy, their hand was forced somewhat by Beckford's insistence on holding out for the best deal. This time last year, Leeds were, let us not forget, facing up to a third year in League One with no guarantee of escaping any time soon.

Accepting the striker's demands of a five-figure weekly salary could have proved very costly.

A year on, however, and United are back in the second tier with the guarantee of increased revenue, not least the new solidarity payments that see Championship clubs handed 2.2m per year as opposed to the 335,000 on offer in League One.

Surely it is in the club's interests to tie down players who will, once we get to January 1, be able to talk terms with any prospective new employers?

It is a worrying scenario for supporters, especially as Kilkenny, Becchio and Johnson are in their mid-20s and, therefore, approaching their prime years as footballers. A further delay over agreeing new contracts with the trio could prove very costly, indeed.

Caution is perhaps understandable in the case of 33-year-old Naylor, whose recent injury problems and age mean he still has plenty to prove this term. Kisnorbo's ruptured Achilles could also make the club wary, though one point to bear in mind is that come the New Year, when the Australian is set to return to action, there will be no shortage of potential suitors trying to tempt the reigning Player of the Year away from Elland Road.

Football being something of a cut-throat business means clubs will already be well aware of the potential availability of four of United's better players. A host of offers will surely follow once we reach the New Year if the stalemate has not been broken.

And, as we saw last season with Beckford, once that stage has been reached a club can find it nigh on impossible to fend off rivals circling with contract offers substantially inflated by not having to pay a seven-figure fee.

New contracts need sorting, and fast.