Credit: Imago

Aheed Abrar

Sun 8 March 2026 14:26, UK

Daniel Farke hasn’t given Sebastiaan Bornauw much to consider at Leeds United this season.

The Whites signed the Belgium international from VfL Wolfsburg for around £5.1million last summer, with the centre-back part of the defensive contingent in LS11 tasked with avoiding Premier League relegation.

At St Andrew’s against Birmingham City in the FA Cup, the 26-year-old was on the pitch for 90 minutes in the West Yorkshire outfit’s penalty shootout win, but hasn’t featured for them since.

Norwich City are up next for Leeds in the FA Cup fifth round on 8 March, and no matter what Farke decides to do with Bornauw, his future at Elland Road may be set in stone.

Sebastiaan Bornauw to seek Leeds United summer exit, numbers show why

Bornauw has stayed on the bench for Leeds in their last three Premier League matches.

The Belgian ace has made nine appearances in the English top flight, starting four times, playing 35 minutes per game and has completed 81 per cent of his passes, as per Sofascore.

In the current campaign, the centre-back has managed zero clean sheets in the Premier League, made 0.7 tackles, recovered 0.8 balls and cleared the ball 2.6 times per game.

The defender hasn’t been the most convincing during defensive duels, losing 53 per cent of them, winning 0.8 ground duels and one aerial duel per game.

Bornauw was linked with an exit from Elland Road and his record doesn’t give Farke any reason to keep the centre-back if he agitates for an exit due to a lack of game time in LS11.

Who can replace Sebastiaan Bornauw at Elland Road?

If Bornauw were to leave Leeds in the summer, they should look to sign a left-footed centre-back to provide cover for Pascal Struijk.

FC Utrecht defender Souffian El Karouani is one such target at Elland Road who could potentially reinforce the backline in the coming months.

The 25-year-old Morocco international has been a key player for the Eredivisie outfit, but it remains to be seen what the future holds for him.

If the West Yorkshire outfit secure their Premier League safety, 49ers Enterprises will be expected to make a significant investment in the squad.