Play-off success set to land Leeds United with seven-figure transfer sum to pay EFL side

Leeds United will be forced to part with a seven-figure sum should they win promotion to the Premier League. That's according to Wales Online, who report that success at Wembley Stadium later this month will activate an add-on clause in the deal that took Joel Piroe from Swansea City to Elland Road last summer.

The Whites are said to have paid an initial £10.5m fee for Piroe as the club's new owners 49ers Enterprises attempted to give Daniel Farke the tools needed to get the job done and win promotion to the Premier League. However, as was reported by the Athletic at the time, the deal could rise to £16m due to performance related extras.

Promotion to the top flight is thought to be one of those add-ons and the Wales Online report claims that Swansea could be due as much as £3m should Leeds win the play-off final. Of course, that would be a huge boost for the Swans, who finished 14th without Piroe's goals this season, and if the Dutchman makes the decisive impact for the club in the play-offs, Leeds wouldn't begrudge paying it.

It's fair to say Piroe's time at Elland Road has been up and down this season. The forward, who arrived with heaps of confidence and swagger, set the tone on his debut by scoring in the win against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

He then bagged a brace in a commanding attacking performance at Millwall a few weeks later, before going on to rack up eight goals in his first 16 appearances for the Whites. However, a series of frustrating showings saw him lose his place in the side, with Daniel Farke preferring to start Patrick Bamford over the second half of the season.

Despite finding five more goals to take his tally for the season up to 13, Piroe has struggled for consistent minutes since the turn of the year and that seems to have visibly taken its toll on his confidence and form.

Keep up to date with all the latest Leeds United headlines, with the free Yorkshire Evening News - Leeds United newsletter. "He was poor today," Jon Newsome said after watching the striker noticeably struggle to get a foothold in the contest during Leeds' 4-0 loss to QPR last month. "What can I say really? He was poor, he was poor. He is obviously lacking in confidence, he has been in and out of the side. When you are dropped, you are not playing, your confidence takes a dip, but I don’t think it was just Piroe tonight."

The 24-year-old did bag Leeds' final goal of the regular season on Saturday against Southampton, though, and he'll be keen to make the desired impact in the play-offs, starting against Norwich City on Sunday, to help Leeds successfully achieve their goal of promotion this season.