Leeds United face January decision on Darko Gyabi in Plymouth Argyle loan update
Leeds United have an option to recall Darko Gyabi from his loan at Plymouth Argyle in the first week of January, Neil Dewsnip has said.
Speaking to Cornish Supporters’ Association fans’ forum, the Plymouth director of football said that a clause in Gyabi’s loan deal at Home Park leaves United able to recall him between 1 and 7 January 2025.
Gyabi has made 16 appearances in his second spell with Wayne Rooney’s side having spent part of last season at Argyle, missing their 3-0 defeat at Elland Road due to being unable to face his parent club.
In quotes reported by PlymouthLive (5 December), Dewsnip said: “Darko Gyabi for example; between the first and the seventh of January, Leeds can recall him.
“But once it gets past the seventh they can’t. That – I would like to think – is us defending ourselves, but the reality is they are not ours.”
Plymouth can rest easy despite Darko Gyabi Leeds United clause
Although United have a chance to bring Gyabi back to Elland Road in the first week of January, few officials at either club will anticipate the 20-year-old heading back up to West Yorkshire next month.
Gyabi has certainly found his feet at Plymouth across two loan spells in 2024, starting 14 of their 18 matches this season, and he’d likely get nowhere near that level of game-time if he returned to LS11.
Displacing the likes of Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka in Daniel Farke’s midfield looks highly unlikely at present unless injury strikes again, with Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu currently sidelined long-term.
However, with Ampadu back in first-team training and aiming to be back ahead of schedule, Gyabi would only drop further down the Peacocks pecking order by the time January comes around.
With January additions in mooted in midfield [Sport 5, 4 December], United are much more likely to bring in big-money talent from afar, rather than disrupt the development of a player who has made Plymouth his home.
In other Leeds news, a United veteran’s January exit could be on the cards with the club chasing a new transfer in his position.
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