Massimo Cellino promises summer signings at Leeds United

Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino has promised the club will sign new players during the summer transfer window after pledging to raise the wage bill to £13m.

The Whites finished 15<sup>th in the Championship last season and after appointing Uwe Rosler to replace Neil Redfearn as manager, Cellino has again targeted a return to the Premier League.

To boost those attempts to break into the top flight for the first time since 2004, Cellino has pledged to commit an extra £2.5m to the Leeds wage bill, but admits Rosler will have to go through him with any transfer proposals.

"When I first came in, I had to pay £5m just to keep the club going," the returning Leeds owner said. "By the end of last season, we had lost £22million. Now the forecast is that we are close to break even.

"We also had big wages last year. Nearly £21m in wages and we had an average age of 29. Now we have brought it down to £10.5m, but we have to attract new players, so it will go up to £13m and the average age is now 23.

"Why does [Rosler] have to buy? He should propose [deals to the owner]. That is the big mistake they make in England. We have to work together, we share the responsibility. If we choose a player together and we make a mistake, it is our mistake, not his."

Aside from a flurry of players signing new contracts, Rosler's first notable act as Leeds manager has been to appoint Rob Kelly as his assistant manager.

Formerly manager of Leicester City, Kelly occupied coaching roles at Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, and Nottingham Forest before joining Alan Irvine at West Browmich Albion.

Kelly took caretaker charge of West Brom after the sacking of Irvine but was surplus to requirements under Tony Pulis and quickly departed after his appointment alongside Dean Kiely and Keith Downing.

"I felt that it would be very good to have such an experienced coach like Rob next to me," Rosler said of his first appointment at Leeds. "He has been in this league for many, many years. He has been in the Premier League.

"He knows this league in and out and he knows the players in and out. He's good on the training field. I was always looking to bring in somebody experienced who has worked at this level for quite some time – I think that Rob is a very good option.

"I am very happy that he has agreed to join. We have known each other for a while and I think it's a good option for everybody involved. I'm happy to have such an experienced man next to me.

"He's the second man in command. He will be influential in the day-to-day running of our team in terms of training sessions. He will be important in terms of matchdays and he'll be my close ally."