Daniel Farke has already given Junior Firpo stance as Leeds United reach critical contract moment — YEP 3/1/25
By Kyle Newbould
Leeds United have a decision to make on their left-back’s
future.
Leeds United will be losing one of their leaders if Junior
Firpo opts to find pastures new in the summer, according to manager Daniel
Farke.
Firpo is one of three first-team squad members whose current
contract expires in the summer - Sam Byram and Josuha Guilavogui being the
other two - and the apparent lack of talks over an extension has fuelled
uncertainty over his future. As of New Year’s Day, the 28-year-old is free to
speak with foreign clubs and can come to a pre-contract agreement, effectively
confirming an exit once this season is up.
Farke has swatted away recent questions on Firpo’s future,
instead urging his left-back to focus on recovering from a hamstring injury
that has kept him out for almost a month. But the Dominican Republic
international’s growing stature within the squad is difficult to ignore and any
decision on his future will be a big one.
Farke’s Firpo verdict
“You also know how much I really rate Junior and Sam
[Byram], how important they are for us,” Farke admitted earlier this season.
“Also from their personality. When we speak about Junior, especially also the
last game against Burnley, after a long travel, he also played a really good
game.
“I was pleased with this and he's growing more and more,
also into a leader role. He improves, also, his defensive skills. This is also
what I like because he's outstanding in this league in going forward, you all
know this, but also to be able to improve further on his defending behaviour.”
That hamstring injury has halted another impressive campaign
for Firpo, who has regularly been linked with a return to former club Real
Betis, but the defender is expected to return later this month and will hope to
reclaim his starting place. For now, focus is solely on winning enough games to
achieve promotion but the time will soon come when talks need to get underway.
Firpo on his Leeds future
Few would have anticipated Firpo to become such a crucial
player at Leeds after a tough first two seasons in West Yorkshire, but the drop
in opposition quality has allowed the defender’s confidence to grow. An
improvement in performance levels has also made it easier for supporters to
warm to his personality.
But the reality of football is that players move on and a
return to Betis, the club where Firpo made his name as a young professional
before joining Barcelona, cannot be ignored. It is a reality the player has not
shied away from and something he explained during an exclusive interview for
the YEP’s Inside Elland Road Newsletter in November.
"Football is like that," he said. "One day
you are here, another day you are there. But this is the topic that I've been
discussing with myself since we got relegated. Obviously, I could have done the
same [as others who left], I could have gone away. I have my options, I think
everyone knows, it's not a thing that I can hide. I had my options and I could
go away, but as you say, my family is settled here. We are doing really good at
the moment, but we don't know what the future will say for me.
"I don't know even what Leeds want to do with me. I
don't know yet. We haven't had this conversation yet. The manager hasn't had
this conversation yet with me. I think we are just focusing at the moment in
playing every game, winning every game, win as many games as possible, and get
us promoted. This is the target. And if I have to leave after the season, at
least Leeds are going to be in the Premier League."