Credit: Imago

Aheed Abrar

Thu 30 April 2026 19:10, UK

Sebastiaan Bornauw will surely replace Jaka Bijol as Leeds United face Burnley in the Premier League on Friday.

Daniel Farke has raised doubts about Noah Okafor and the Slovenia international’s fitness for the Clarets’ trip to Elland Road on 1 May.

Gabriel Gudmundsson is also injured at Elland Road, clearing the path for Bornauw to potentially start at centre-back, with James Justin on the left.

The former VfL Wolfsburg defender has been a bit-part player for the Whites in the current campaign and arguably needs to do something special to secure his future in LS11.

Bornauw’s future at Elland Road seems uncertain due to his lack of game time under Farke and he surely has a point to prove against Burnley.

Sebastiaan Bornauw doesn’t have chances left at Leeds United

Bornauw has made nine Premier League appearances this season, starting four and averaging 35 minutes per game, as per Sofascore.

The Belgium international has recorded 0.4 interceptions, 0.7 tackles, 0.8 ball recoveries and 2.6 clearances per game.

In terms of aerial duels, the centre-back has won one per game, with a 47 per cent success rate, which surely doesn’t fill many fans with confidence when he plays.

Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk and Bijol are rightly ahead of Bornauw in the pecking order and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Belgian defender not get much game time in the final four games if Farke has a fully fit squad.

Daniel Farke already plans for future without Sebastiaan Bornauw

Leeds have been linked with Danilho Doekhi, with the Union Berlin centre-back available as a free agent in the summer.

Farke seems to be already putting plans in place to reinforce his squad ahead of the upcoming transfer window and Bornauw may be on his way out.

With the German manager switching to a 5-2-2-1 formation in the current campaign, reinforcing the backline should be a priority for the Whites to continue succeeding next season.

The West Yorkshire outfit are close to securing Premier League survival and the Belgian defender’s prospects don’t look any better going into the 2026-27 campaign.