Junior Firpo ‘fear’ verdict issued as Leeds United linked with late left-back transfer – BBC journalist
Jonny Buchan fears Leeds United might again rely on Junior Firpo to be “the best left-back in the Championship” this season instead of signing a new specialist before the deadline.
The BBC Leeds journalist said on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet (28 August) that he is concerned the Whites will expect the former Barcelona man to be “scintillating” in the second tier and opt against finally signing a prospective new starter at the position.
Firpo is currently out injured and stand-in Sam Byram has now picked up a knock too, while the club have been linked to the likes of Burnley’s Charlie Taylor and Leicester’s Luke Thomas [Athletic, 28 August] this summer.
Buchan said (21m 10s): “My only fear on the left-back situation is as fans we sit here prioritising that very highly because we write off Junior Firpo.
“My only fear is that the club think Junior Firpo is going to be the best left-back in the Championship, and they think once he’s back he’s going to be this scintillating left-back.
“We know that [Daniel] Farke does want the full-backs to push on, we’ve seen that… so my fear is we know that Junior Firpo is better at going forward than he is defensively, if he is then encouraged to do that… that could be a bit of a problem…
“That’s why I’d still like to see them bring in a left-back, an actual, by-trade left-back.”
Groundhog Day
It would hardly be the first time that the Leeds United hierarchy had decided to forego bringing in new competition at left-back and hoped for the best.
The same happened a year ago and saw Pascal Struijk deputising for most of the season, before Firpo reprised his role following Jesse Marsch’s departure to wildly fluctuating results.
It is possible that he is perfectly suited to the Championship since he hasn’t proven to be in the Premier League, and in fairness to Byram the converted right-back has looked pretty good on the left so far.
But trying to get through an entire season with the pair as the top two for the position is clearly a risk, as shown by the fact that both are already unavailable at the same time following Byram’s injury against Ipswich.
Daniel Farke tried Cody Drameh in relief during the game and then gave up on that after less than a half and brought on Jamie Shackleton instead.
The fanbase will hope that Gretar Steinsson and Nick Hammond learn from Victor Orta’s oversight 12 months ago and ensure they get more cover in.
Daniel Farke showed what his side can do when properly stocked with the first win at Portman Road last week, so if he gets adequate reinforcements by the deadline he should be able to make a proper go of a run at promotion.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are in talks with a Premier League club over a late move for one of their players