Leeds United January transfer plan insight revealed as injuries highlight historic problem area — YEP 11/12/23

Daniel Farke has indicated that Leeds United are considering strengthening at left-back due to the injury histories of Sam Byram and Junior Firpo.

By Graham Smyth

As Farke's bad luck would have it, both Byram and Firpo are currently out with hamstring problems, necessitating a fresh solution for an historic problem area at Leeds. Even in Marcelo Bielsa's best days at Leeds, the position was never really nailed down comprehensively by one man and certainly never by one who called it his natural position. Barry Douglas suffered with injury problems and fell down the pecking order under Bielsa, with converted winger Gjanni Alioski and utility man Stuart Dallas often doing a solid job there.

Though Leeds paid £13m to Barcelona for Firpo in 2021, he has had more than his fair share of injury woes and struggles with form, leading Farke to ask for the addition of free agent Byram in the summer. Up until now their fitness and availability has dovetailed, a fit-again Firpo stepping in when Byram first pulled up with a hamstring strain earlier this season. But since then Firpo has encountered a problem of his own and on Saturday Byram limped off again with another hamstring strain.

How Farke deals with it at Sunderland on Tuesday night will be a major talking point. Jamie Shackleton could have reprised a role that he has taken on occasion, had the versatile youngster not picked up a glute injury in training. Luke Ayling, another possible option, has not played for around five weeks due to Archie Gray's form at right-back and in the last seven days the veteran full-back has experienced knee pain.

Djed Spence came into the side during the second half at Blackburn Rovers to take Byram's place and so Farke could turn to him again at the Stadium of Light, but the Spurs loanee's ability to last 90 minutes is not yet proven given the two months he spent out with knee ligament damage.

Farke insists he's fully convinced that one of his available options can step up and has categorised the situation as a chance for someone else to shine. But it has not made him think about a possible addition at left-back in January, because that was already on his mind.

"I wouldn't label it just because they are out right now with injuries," he said on Monday. "I had it in my mind anyway because we know also about the injury CV of Junior Firpo, who has been more then unlucky during his time here, although he is such a fantastic player if he is fit and available. We know what Sam Byram had to deal with throughout his career and I had this in my head anyway. I wouldn't say that because they're both right now in the middle of December injured it is more urgent, because I hope also that Junior will be able to return in the upcoming days also back into training. He won't be available for this week but then hopefully at some point even around Christmas he will be back available, and also with Sam I expect him then to be at least back available at least for the first game in the league again in January. So not just because of these injuries but because of their history in terms of injuries I think we have to keep it a bit in our head, yes."

Leeds are expected to make use of the loan market when the window opens in January for any areas in need of strengthening and Farke has been insistent that there is no appetite to let key players depart, including those on the fringe of the first team. The likes of Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell have found first team minutes hard to come by, but according to Farke things could change quickly and they might yet be needed to play important parts in Leeds’ promotion push. Others, who have had to get their action with the Under 21s like Lewis Bate and Darko Gyabi, sound more likely to be successful if they make requests to go out on loan.

“You can't be successful in the league with just 11 players who are in the starting line-ups,” said Farke. “You need the whole group and I also don't differ between players who are in the starting line-up or sometimes on the bench. Quite often you have different periods in the season. There are players who are involved in the first 10 games in the starting line-up and at the moment sometimes they are just on the bench or sometimes they just don't make it to the game day squad. The momentum changes that quickly and obviously during this moment when you are playing everything is okay and then when sometimes you are just on the bench and not in the gameday squad then you are not that happy and want to play again. That's quite normal. But if we allow each and every player to leave then more or less you have to go with 11 players and, no, all the players, we are fully convinced will stay with us, at least we want them to stay with us. That's definitely a fact.

"I don't see why a player who is important for us, who I rate as important for us and who we rate to be important, why we should let him go and become weaker in January. No, we want to be successful by the end of the season and instead of getting weaker we want to get even better. For that, I don't see any player who is valuable and important for us to leave in January. Yes, if you are perhaps position no 26 in our squad anyhow then we can speak about if it is a young player if it makes sense to loan him out to give him some game time for his development because it is beneficial for the mid and the long term. But there are not 11 key players for me, there are definitely 17-18-19 players who each have the chance to be in each and every game in the starting line-up, I don't see that any key player should leave. If we let one of these key players leave then something really extraordinary has to happen but I don't see this in January if I am honest."