Excitement. That's all Leeds' summer has consisted of.

The club's academy at Thorpe Arch was given category one status, they achieved promotion, won the title by ten points and then smashed their transfer record.

Oh, and they're £200m better off for securing their place in the top-flight of English football. 

No longer do Leeds have to rely on loan players as they did last summer. Instead, they're splashing the cash willingly and Victor Orta's shackles are well and truly off. 

The Director of Football has set the wheels in motion for what has been an entertaining transfer window for Leeds so far.

He has been a busy beaver, submitting three bids for Ben White that unfortunately were all rejected. However, he had better luck in luring Rodrigo and Robin Koch to the club.

Leeds have now managed to strengthen significantly in two major areas, but their movement in the market is far from finished.

Radrizzani and Orta

One name who is hot topic at the moment is Udinese attacking midfielder Rodrigo de Paul.

The Whites were linked with a switch for the 26-year-old last week when it was thought Leeds were trying to do a deal for a player worth in the region of €35m (£31.2m).

That's a fee that would once again break the club's transfer record but if they were any doubts over whether they could do so, Phil Hay has quashed those fears.

He took to Twitter on Thursday morning to issue an exciting update on the progress of the transfer.

Hay revealed: "Transfer wise, Leeds' interest in Rodrigo De Paul remains serious. Financially they can do it and De Paul is keen to go to a club where he'll be a main player. Leeds still have eyes on CB options if Bielsa decides he wants another." 

Rodrigo de Paul

GIVEMESPORT'S Matt Dawson says...

Much has been made about how much newly promoted sides can spend when they come up from the Championship.

Fulham spent over £100m in the summer of 2018 and got relegated before Aston Villa splashed out £140m on new players last summer. They very nearly suffered the same fate as Fulham but just about survived, finishing in 17th place.

Leeds aren't planning on signing the sheer number of players that a side like Villa brought in - 12 in total - but they are splashing the cash fairly significantly now.

Rodrigo de Paul

Rodrigo and Koch cost the club a combined £41.5m so adding someone like De Paul would potentially bring their spending to around the £72m mark.

That's a lot of money for Leeds but as Hay says, they can financially do it. 

What a difference this makes to a year ago. The Yorkshire side had been right on the cusp of financial fair play in the Championship but they are now free from the restrictions set in the second tier.