Leeds United’s summer transfer business is not quite over, after injury issues force the Championship club to act on contingency plans, according to journalist Ben Jacobs via GiveMeSport.
The Elland Road club had been hopeful of securing a left-back to provide much needed cover for Junior Firpo who is recognised as the only specialist in that position. The 27-year-old is only just returning to full fitness following a period on the sidelines with Daniel Farke having to turn to Sam Byram as a stand in after they failed in their attempts to sign Luke Thomas from Leicester City and Charlie Taylor from Burnley.
Daniel Farke was in drastic need for reinforcements, losing a range of key players following their relegation to the second tier. He did however, manage to keep hold of several “want-a-way” players including Wilfred Gnonto, who had even been on strike at the beginning of the season in an attempt to force a move. Joel Piroe, Ethan Ampadu, Djed Spence, Glen Kamara and Sam Byram all joined, amongst others as they look to recover from an indifferent start to the season,
Due to the transfer window closing, The Whites will have to look towards free agents who were released by their club prior to the 1st September deadline. (Any that have been released after are “locked” to their current club until January). This can come with it’s own pitfalls as often players who are without clubs at this stage of the season have issues; whether that be injury problems or a period of bad form making any signing a risk at best or expensive at worst.
What’s Been Said?
Speaking to GiveMeSport Ben Jacobs added:
“Leeds knew in the final days of the window that they needed left-back cover but, now the European window is shut, their options are limited.
“It’s not just about bringing someone in for the sake of it. The good news is that Junior Firpo says that he is fit and will return, but there’s still ultimately not that much cover there.
“If the right opportunity arose, of course, Leeds would like to move and the beauty of the free agency market is that it can be quite cost-effective.
“But there are no indications yet that anything is close at this stage, albeit with windows shutting and players looking to finalise their moves in the free agency market, as a result. I think that we’ll see a flurry of movements.
“When I say windows shutting, it’s obviously not relevant to the free agency market, but it might be relevant to some options becoming available who are currently tied up and end up leaving their current club.
“We saw that with Kasper Schmeichel, whose contract with Nice was mutually terminated, so surprise opportunities in free agency can still present themselves.
“But Leeds kind of resigned themselves at the end of the European window to the fact that if they didn’t bring in a loan option, they might have to stick with what they’ve got until at least January and hope that Firpo can get fit.”
