Elvedi relishing reunion with Farke at Leeds

Nico Elvedi completed his move to Leeds United on Wednesday, reuniting with Daniel Farke ahead of their Premier League opener this weekend.

Nico Elvedi revealed that Daniel Farke was a "big point" behind his move to Leeds United as he reunited with his former boss in England.

Elvedi put pen to paper on a three-year contract with Leeds on Wednesday after completing his move from Borussia Monchengladbach in a reported £8.5m (€9.9m) move.

The 29-year-old played under Farke in the Bundesliga at Monchengladbach in 2022-23, and he has now followed him to Elland Road ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

Elvedi arrives with plenty of experience too, having made 364 appearances across all competitions for Monchengladbach since joining them from Zurich in 2015.

In that time, Elvedi ranks third amongst Bundesliga players for interceptions (622) and clearances (1,547), and the Switzerland international further bolsters Leeds' defence after the signings of Tarik Muharemovic and James Trafford.

"He is also a big point for this change," Elvedi said of his relationship with Farke.

"It was just one year, but I loved to have him as a manager. I learned a lot from him and I will learn a lot now."

Elvedi could make his debut for Leeds away to Nottingham Forest this Saturday, but he is most looking forward to embracing the "special" Elland Road atmosphere.

"I am very happy to be here, everything is done, and I can't wait to play for this club," Elvedi said.

"It is such a big club with amazing fans and I also can't wait to play in this stadium with the fans. I saw some videos from the stadium, from the fans, and I loved it.

"Everybody told me it is a special moment to go through the tunnel and see the atmosphere. I can't wait to see that."

Forest are preparing for their first season under Oliver Glasner, having seen Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and Vitor Pereira all dismissed during a turbulent 2025-26 season.

They will be hoping for a season of stability with Glasner at the helm, with the Austrian guiding Crystal Palace to Conference League glory in his final game in charge in May.

Forest have welcomed four new faces ahead of the new campaign, including highly-rated Sporting CP defender Ousmane Diomande, but Glasner is hoping to have a few more new arrivals before the transfer window shuts.

"We have two or three additions in the pipeline, let's say like this," Glasner said.

"It's always two clubs, the player and the agent and as soon as these four parties find an agreement, we will have another player.

"I'm very pleased so far. We brought two top players in with Schlager and Diomande. I think everybody can see the impact Schlager can have on our game.

"Diomande is just at the beginning of the pre-season, after a longer break after the World Cup, so he will need a little bit of time to be fully fit.

"Having two players from the top five leagues, both played more than 100 games for their country, playing Champions League football, will give us quality and experience.

"So far, everything we wanted to do we have already done."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Forest – Morgan Gibbs-White

Despite a sensational 2025-26 campaign, Gibbs-White was omitted from England's World Cup squad, and he will be out to prove the decision Thomas Tuchel made was the wrong one.

Only Jarrod Bowen (20) registered more Premier League goal involvements among English players last season than Gibbs-White (19 – 15 goals, four assists).

Leeds – Harry Wilson

New Leeds signing Wilson was directly involved in 17 Premier League goals last season (10 goals, 7 assists), with only eight players registering more.

Only Antoine Semenyo (+5.9) and Junior Kroupi (+4.7) exceeded their expected goals (xG) tally by more than Wilson (+4.2) in 2025-26.

MATCH PREDICTION: FOREST WIN

Forest have won their last four home league games against Leeds, while in the top-flight they are unbeaten in 14 against the Whites at the City Ground (W7 D7) since losing 2-0 in 1971-72.

They also won 3-1 against Brentford on MD1 last season, though they last won their opening league game in consecutive seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18 in the Championship.

However, only Liverpool (-24) and Wolves (-22) saw a bigger decrease in their final points total between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 Premier League seasons than Forest (-21, 65 to 44).

Leeds have only faced Forest in their opening league game of the season once before – they won 1-0 in 1991-92 under Howard Wilkinson, winning the top-flight title that campaign.

The Whites have lost their opening game in just two of their last 18 top-flight seasons (W9 D7), losing to Liverpool in 2020-21 and Manchester United in 2021-22.

But Farke’s side struggled last season, particularly on the road. Only Wolves (six) and Burnley (nine) won fewer away points in the 2025-26 Premier League than Leeds (15).