Josuha Guilavogui vital as Leeds United miss out on ideal transfer
Ian Darke says it’s a “pity” Leeds United were unable to sign Cheikhou Kouyate, but can benefit from the arrival of Josuha Guilavogui.
The TNT Sports commentator, speaking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, rates former Premier League midfielder Kouyate highly alongside Francis Coquelin, the former Arsenal ace who was also linked as a free agent at Elland Road.
Leeds acted quickly to sign former France international Guilavogui after Kouyate had failed a medical, with injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev severely stunting Daniel Farke’s options in central midfield.
“To sustain a promotion challenge – and Leeds are a high-class Championship team – they definitely don’t need any kind of drop-off when they have key players injured,” Darke said.
“It’s a pity they didn’t get Kouyate because he’d have been ideal – he’s a player who knows his way around the Premier League, let alone the Championship – and Coquelin wouldn’t have been the worst idea either, having played at a high level since his Arsenal days.
“It’s good that they’ve signed Guilavogui as he provides that vital cover – it’s important they have no drop in standard in any area of the pitch.”
Leeds United hope for injury returns soon
So far for Leeds and Farke, their central midfield options have consisted of Guilavogui, Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell since the double injury blow. Charlie Crew and Sam Chambers recently made their respective debuts, too.
There could be positive news around the corner with Ampadu’s prognosis, reportedly ahead of his expected progress as he recovers from a knee injury sustained on 28 September [Yorkshire Evening Post, 5 November]. The timescale for Gruev remains unclear, but is certainly a long-term absence.
Guilavogui has so far made two appearances off the bench in the Championship.
In other Leeds news, the reason why the club will struggle to offload Patrick Bamford in January.
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