This is a problem Leeds United were always going to have as a newly-promoted Premier League club with an immediate rise to the top half of the league table.
This is a problem the Whites arguably want, even crave, as they make their way through the English football pyramid to the upper reaches of the top flight.
This is a problem the Elland Road outfit arguably wanted Marcelo Bielsa to create for them. This is a problem which comes with being a seriously entertaining, effective football club.
The problem is every man and his dog wants a slice. They want your owner’s ambition, they want your director of football’s eye for talent, they want your head coach’s philosophy, they want your best players’ ability.
It’s a badge of honour. It’s a sign things are going well. It’s a quality problem to have and one all the best clubs deal with.
Crucially, just because others may want what you have, does not mean Leeds have to give it to them. The rumour mill is never going to stop, United will not fret about matters beyond their control. They will quietly go about building their dynasty while others look on enviously.
The chatter about Raphinha, sparked by a few tweets on the continent, was always going to come. Scouting departments would not be doing their job properly if they were not looking at the Brazilian.
There is a gaping difference between liking a player, looking at a player, bidding for a player and signing a player.
Liverpool will not be the last club linked with the 24-year-old either. The news cycle will come around again a few more times in this window, the next and then the one after that until Victor Orta sees a figure he cannot refuse.
The dynamic was similar in the summer of 2019 when United missed out on promotion to the Premier League and, predictably, saw Kalvin Phillips linked with half of the top flight.
Football clubs’ best players are always going to be linked with those clubs either at a higher level or with bigger budgets. It’s the natural order of this sport, of this business.
It stretches beyond the players too. Andrea Radrizzani is routinely linked with investment at new clubs every six months or so.
Cagliari and Valencia are just two of the names which leap out from recent years. Sure, the Italian has been outspoken on his wish for a network of clubs across Europe in the future, but these links are there because he has proved himself as an owner willing to invest. And investment is what clubs crave.
After a choppy transfer window in 2017, Orta’s, and his scouting department’s, strike rate with new signings has been enviable.
Again, with success comes interest. RB Leipzig and Roma were the last clubs to make the most public approaches for the Spaniard, but there have been several others across his tenure at Elland Road.
And then we come to Bielsa. The jewel in the crown. An incorruptible man of honour who would never look to curry favour with other clubs. And yet the links come.
With the success he has delivered, like Raphinha, like Orta, Bielsa is always going to a name linked to other clubs and other jobs.
This is the way things are. And if Leeds continue on the path their fanbase wants them on, we’re going to have to get used to this for years to come.
