What is the Summer Series? Fulham replace Leeds United in Premier League’s pre-season competition

Fulham are reportedly poised to replace Leeds United in the Summer Series, a proposed pre-season tournament featuring six Premier League sides.

The Premier League is expected to announce the first iteration of the competition later this week and Leeds were thought to be part of the initial line-up. However last weekend’s 5-1 defeat to Crystal Palace leaves Javi Gracia’s side in real danger of relegation and they are currently just two points above the drop zone.

Fulham, on the other hand, have enjoyed a very successful return to the top flight under Marco Silva. They are currently tenth, one place above West London neighbours Chelsea with a game in hand.

Fulham are expected to join Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea and Newcastle United in the tournament.

What is the Premier League’s Summer Series competition?

The Athletic reports that the Premier League is poised to announce a new pre-season competition, to be held in the United States. The “enhanced pre-season tournament” had been slated to begin in 2022 but the fallout from the pandemic forced organisers to postpone for a year.

Back in 2021 it was reported that Premier League executives were eager to formalise the trend of English clubs playing pre-season friendlies in the States in a bid to maximise commercial reach. It was hoped that they could introduce more “meaningful” matches to fuel the growth of soccer overseas.

The Premier League is yet to announce the plan officially, but it is thought that the Summer Series will see clubs face each other in a series of matches in late July. This would constitute the majority of clubs’ pre-season fixture commitments and would be held across cities on the east coast.

Premier League officials are thought to be eager to organise more fixtures overseas, as has been done by the NFL and NBA with games in London and Paris.