Leeds United stance on Junior Firpo contract extension mooted at Elland Road
Leeds United will want to hold talks with Junior Firpo and Sam Byram over contract extensions, according to Carlton Palmer.
Daniel Farke has admitted that talks are yet to be held with either fullback over a new deal at Elland Road, with both players’ current contracts expiring at the end of the season [Leeds Live, 20 September].
Although Football League World pundit Palmer believes the Whites’ priority will be winning promotion back to the Premier League, he thinks Farke and his team will be eager to tie both players down.
Speaking to Football League World on Monday (23 September) he said: “He won’t want to lose those players for nothing, that’s for sure.
“It’s a difficult time because the season’s kicked off, but time will tell whether they trigger an extension or get their contracts extended for another year, but I am sure they’ll want to sit down and sort something out.
“In particular, you won’t want to lose someone like Firpo for free after paying £10-15m to acquire him from Barcelona. They’ve already made significant starts for Leeds United this season, but that’s the problem when you’re a manager, there’s always something ongoing or pressing.
“The priority is for Leeds to get promotion this season, so they will want to try and sit down and negotiate extensions for these players for at least another season.
“As I said, we don’t know if there are extensions that could be triggered. Byram could have an appearance clause, which means an extension, but we don’t know if that’s the case.
“The one thing that will happen is that Farke will sit down and speak to the Leeds hierarchy and if they do not extend these players’ contracts, they’ll already be trying to identify the players they’ll look to bring in come January.
“These decisions will determine the outcome of the season. They need to get it right.”
Will Junior Firpo exit Elland Road amid Leeds United contract update?
As Palmer suggests, if nothing else it would be a financial mistake if Leeds United were to allow both Firpo and Byram to walk away for nothing at the end of their current contracts.
Although Byram returned to Elland Road on a free transfer, the Whites forked out a big fee to bring Firpo to England from Barcelona.
He has started to show that price tag on the pitch over the last two seasons but that will matter little if they don’t pocket a fee for his services.
With a few months to go until the January transfer window, the Whites should move to find a solution for both players’ futures before the opportunity arises for them to put pen to paper on a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club.
Hopefully, Palmer and Farke will get their wish sooner rather than later. Leeds moved quickly to tie down Willy Gnonto earlier this season so they could well do the same again.
In other Leeds United news, Chris Sutton has clashed with one supporter live on air over a new Farke verdict at Elland Road
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