Leeds United to make smart Junior Firpo sale in January as weakness noted
Leeds United should sell Junior Firpo in January before his contract expires at the end of the season.
The left-back has been one of Daniel Farke’s key players this season and although his form in the Championship has been near-perfect, when looking back at the Whites’ last stint in the Premier League, his defensive contributions left a lot to be desired.
This is at least the thought process of Simon Rix and Jonny Buchan who share the same opinion that the Dominican Republic international isn’t the best at defending.
“Firpo is really interesting,” said Rix on the Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet Podcast (18 November). “I think a lot of people would say no straight away to him starting, but last time in the Premier League, he never really had a run of games.
“We don’t think he’s that good at defending but he does do some other good things, so for that reason I think he would be worth a go.
“But he is also out of contract so he might not even get the chance!”
To which Buchan replied: “You have just raised that he is not good at defending but when Leeds get back into the Premier League they will be doing a lot of defending!
“To me he would be a squad member, if he wants to be that, and Leeds would have to strengthen that position.”
Leeds United should cash in on Junior Firpo
At the moment, Firpo could likely be seen as one of the best players in Farke’s team. The defender has been a consistent figure in Leeds’ starting XI and has chipped in with four goal contributions thus far.
However, if Leeds want to gain promotion to the Premier League and leave the Championship in the dust, it doesn’t feel like the former Barcelona man has the defensive capability needed for them to do that.
As with all clubs that get promoted from the second tier, it’s likely that the Whites will have their goal peppered and often be on the back foot, especially against the bigger teams such as Liverpool and Manchester City.
Firpo’s contract is set to expire at the end of the term and while his future isn’t yet decided, it feels like the best thing for Farke to do would be to cash in while he has the chance.
This would allow the Whites to put some money towards a new left-back and could even open the door for summer signing Isaac Schmidt to have a run in the team to prove his worth in the second half of the season.
Only time will tell what the future has in store for Leeds and Firpo but with everything still up in the air, it’s anyone’s guess what could happen.
In other Leeds news, Ethan Ampadu was hailed by a BBC pundit despite being absent on international duty.
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