Leeds United transfer news: ‘Not great’ verdict as Junior Firpo set for exit after Fabrizio Romano update
Junior Firpo likely won’t be missed at Leeds United as his signing hasn’t worked out despite appearing a “good addition” originally, according to Dean Jones.
The left-back is set to leave Elland Road this summer after a rough couple of seasons following his move from Barcelona.
Fabrizio Romano reported via Twitter on 7 June that the 26-year-old “will leave” in the ongoing window with “several” European clubs “keen” on signing him, and Jones feels it is inevitable given how things have gone in West Yorkshire.
The former Eurosport journalist told GIVEMESPORT: “I don’t think he will be particularly missed. He’s a signing that just missed the target. When he first signed, I thought it was a good addition to the squad.
“Sometimes, even if you pick a player with the right profile and all the traits that could do well, it just doesn’t work out. I think that’s the way it’s been for Firpo so far. It’s not a disaster, but also not great.”
Disappointment
As much as the sometimes inexplicable play Firpo produced for Leeds United might have suggested otherwise, he clearly would have hoped his fortunes were better at the club.
When he scored the late winner against Southampton in Javi Gracia’s first game in charge on 25 February the release of emotion betrayed his own struggles as much as that of the team.
That point was arguably in the middle of his best run as a Whites player, as he had finally been elevated past Pascal Struijk in the wake of Jesse Marsch’s sacking to take the position he had been bought to fill.
Unfortunately it didn’t last, and ultimately it’s somewhat of a surprise that there is apparently so much interest in his services given his reputation within a Leeds defence which is hardly heralded as a whole.
It is a similar situation with Robin Koch, who appears to have suitors all over the Premier League and Europe despite regularly being at the centre of the back four that stopped very little.
There were high hopes at Elland Road when signing a left-back from the Camp Nou, but after a difficult first season in which Firpo contracted Covid-19 as the wheels were falling off the much-loved Marcelo Bielsa era he never hit a sustained run of form thereafter and often became a target for fan criticism.
In other Leeds United news, a far more popular first-team ace could be set to follow Firpo out of the club amid new talks with an English club.