Leeds United: Stuart Dallas admits Elland Road future doubt as contract ticks down
Stuart Dallas wants to get back playing for Leeds United but accepts with his contract expiring there are “big decisions to make”.
The long-injured Whites favourite told BBC Sport NI on 26 March as his country beat Scotland 1-0 that the staff at Thorp Arch have been “phenomenal” with him during his nearly two years out after suffering a broken leg playing against Manchester City in April 2022.
And while he is “putting everything into” making a return before the end of the season he appears to acknowledge the possibility that his career might be in its final weeks already.
He said: “I’m very, very fortunate that I’ve had the career I’ve had. If that comes to an end, we’ll deal with that when it comes but at the minute I’m not thinking about that.”
“I’ve had a number of set-backs, of course I have, but I’m in the best hands possible at Leeds. The club have been brilliant with me, the fitness department, the medical department, the rehab coaches, have been second to none. I couldn’t be in better hands.
“The medical staff have been phenomenal with me. I’ve put my full trust in them. I’ve had to do that from the very start. They’ve put their trust in me and together we’re working to try and get back. There’s still a few weeks to go until the end of the season and I’m putting everything into that.
“There’s always big decisions to make. I’m out of contract at the end of the year but there’s one thing for sure, I’ll not give up and I would never turn my back on my country.
“If that means continuing, that’s what I’ll like to do. That would be the aim but we’ll take it one day at a time and see where we go.”
Could Leeds United coaching role be on the cards?
Whites fans would love to see Dallas back in action for the first team, having been such a vital presence in multiple positions prior to his devastating injury, it can’t help but be a stretch in the circumstances.
After such a sustained absence it may take him some time to get back up to speed, so his chances of featuring for Daniel Farke before the summer would surely be improved if the German can secure automatic promotion, or even the title, before the final day to take the pressure off.
That looks easier said than done however, with the superb form in 2024 still only enough to have Leeds United top on goal difference from Leicester going into the weekend, with the Foxes holding a game in hand and Ipswich only a point back.
Farke has shown little room for sentimentality this season, as Dallas’ long-time teammate Luke Ayling was phased out of the side early on and eventually departed for Middlesbrough on loan in January to end his Elland Road career.
The full-back won’t be getting an extension when his contract expires in the summer, and fellow 32-year-old skipper Liam Cooper’s chances are likely on the low side as well, having only played two minutes in the Championship since New Year’s Day.
Although Phil Hay has suggested Dallas will probably go too his situation is perhaps slightly different due to the long and arduous rehab process would make it far harsher to dispense with him, but it sounds like he realises the door might be closing on his Whites career too.
Given he has always been praised as a valuable presence off the field as well as on it there is potentially scope for him remain at the club in a non-playing role, but he clearly wants to complete he comeback from the injury so a short-term extension as a player-coach may be feasible in the first instance.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites may have a transfer advantage over numerous rivals in the hunt to sign a new attacking threat this summer.
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