‘Out of respect’ – Exclusive: Paul Robinson reacts to massive injury blow to Leeds star
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United…
Paul Robinson has sent a heartfelt message to Leeds and said he hopes that the club look after Gaetano Berardi.
The defender is out of contract at the end of the season after agreeing on an extension to help get Leeds promoted.
Berardi suffered an ACL tear in the 3-1 win against Derby and that could leave him out of action for six-to-nine months.
It had been said that Leeds had wanted him to stay for another year and that he was going to make his decision when the club was promoted.
Talking exclusively to MOT Leeds News, Robinson said, “It’s the perfect example of why players haven’t been playing – players that were going to be out of contract.
“He’s stretchered off and now faces not having a club and not having anywhere to be rehabilitated.
“You’d like to think that a player who has served the club like he has, he’s done outstandingly well when he’s been called on, you’d like to think that out of respect and a duty of care, that the club will put some sort of deal in place that will enable him to get back to full fitness before a decision can be made on him.
“You’d like to think that the club would do that for a player.”
We couldn’t agree more with this and all Leeds fans are firmly on the side of Berardi, too.
It’s awful luck for the 31-year-old who has shown huge amounts of passion for Leeds.
He was spotted celebrating on crutches after the Derby game and now his Premier League dreams are in tatters.
Leeds United is a business but they’ve also shown they want to do the right thing. We hope that extends to a player who is out of contract within days.
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