Daniel Farke drops future hint on Leeds United man with summer contract expiry date — YEP 5/2/24
Leeds United midfielder Jamie Shackleton has impressed in a number of positions this season under Daniel Farke
By Graham Smyth
Daniel Farke says Leeds United will 'look after' utility man
Jamie Shackleton, whose contract at Elland Road runs out this summer.
The midfielder, who can play in both the full-back areas,
has been with the club since he first signed terms as a nine-year-old. Now 24,
Shackleton is in the final months of a four-year deal that he signed in August
2020.
Farke says he's a big fan of the versatile home-grown
talent, whose injury issues and the emergence of Archie Gray this season have
helped restrict him to seven Championship starts, and has suggested Shackleton
belongs at Elland Road.
"He's best in a Leeds United shirt, that's for
sure," said Farke. "I really like and rate him, especially because
he's so flexible and can play different positions. For us in recent months
whenever we've needed him he's played right-back and I can remember a top
performance at left-back. He played a major role in our away win at Ipswich. He
always gives 100 per cent, lots of identification for Leeds United, with this
club for many years.
"You always want to have this player, not always in the
spotlight but always reliable, wherever you need him and whenever you need him.
We will look after Jamie that's for sure."
Shackleton spent time away from the club last season,
joining fellow Leeds man Charlie Cresswell in a loan stint with Championship
outfit Millwall. He made 36 league appearances for the Lions, 17 of which were
starts. He's one of a number of Leeds players coming to the end of their
contracts this summer, including club captain Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling, Stuart
Dallas, Ian Poveda, Sam Byram and Lewis Bate.
Ayling, Poveda and Bate have all already departed for loan
spells in the second half of the current campaign, effectively bringing their
time at Elland Road to a close. Robin Koch and Cody Drameh went out on loan to
Eintracht Frankfurt and Birmingham City for the 2023/24 campaign and while the
former has already signed a pre-contract agreement to join the Bundesliga club
permanently, the latter is expected to follow him out the door at Leeds come
the summer.
