Credit: Imago

Richie Mills

Fri 27 March 2026 6:40, UK

Leeds United may find it difficult to make a return on their initial outlay for Isaac Schmidt.

Schmidt swapped Swiss Super League team St. Gallen for Leeds for £2.5million in the summer of 2024, but didn’t make much of an impact on Daniel Farke’s team.

He featured just 14 times in all competitions, the majority of which came off the bench, as Leeds earned promotion to the Premier League.

Once it became clear the right-back wasn’t in the Germans’ plans for this season, he headed out on loan to Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen – but Schmidt hasn’t torn up trees there, either.

Leeds have struggled to sell their fringe players in recent years, and Schmidt could add to that unfortunate growing list.

Isaac Schmidt’s Werder Bremen loan is petering out

So far this season, Schmidt has played 16 times for Bremen, scoring one goal in the process.

The 26-year-old has made just five starts, with the defender being an unused substitute in their last match against Wolfsburg.

Schmidt enjoyed four starts in a row in December and January before a concussion started a drop off in minutes in recent months.

According to Sofascore, he has a rating of 6.67 for the season, despite not keeping any clean sheets.

Per 90 minutes, he is averaging 0.5 interceptions, 0.8 tackles, 2.1 balls recovered, and he has won 55 per cent of his total duels.

Moreover, he averages 0.9 clearances per game, loses the ball 6.5 times per match, but has made no errors leading to a goal.

He was a fairly low-risk signing, but going by the noises coming out of Bremen, it remains to be seen if Leeds can cash in on him this summer.

Leeds have been in this situation before

In the 2022 summer transfer window, Leeds signed the likes of Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca, Darko Gyabi, and Brenden Aaronson for varying fees.

What did they have in common? None of them cut the mustard in the 2022-23 campaign. Max Wober followed in January 2023, but he has proven to be a waste of a signing.

Leeds ended up making losses on Kristensen, Roca, Gyabi, and they are still trying to get Wober, who is also on loan at Bremen, off their books.

The buy option for Schmidt is said to be similar to the fee they signed him for.

And while Bremen director Clemens Fritz has been pleased with Schmidt’s contribution this season, he was non-committal about his future at the club.

He said earlier this month: “It’s normal that he’s not happy with his current situation. Isaac did a decent job in his appearances.

“We value Isaac highly for his versatility. His intensity and tenacity give every coach a good feeling.”

Leeds were unable to move on the likes of Illan Meslier in both windows this season. If they want to raise extra funds, selling players like Schmidt will help.