Junior Firpo's Leeds United regrets clear after sentimental Real Betis move

Junior Firpo rejected the opportunity to stay with Leeds United last summer, but he must now be pondering whether that was the right decision.

The 29-year-old left-back joined Leeds in the summer of 2021 from Barcelona, and went on to make 119 appearances for the Whites.

He played a vital role in Leeds' promotion to the Premier League in 2024-25, scoring four goals and providing 10 assists from 32 Championship appearances.

But with his contract expiring at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign, Leeds did reportedly put fresh terms on the table for Firpo to stay at Elland Road.

Instead, the Dominican Republic international opted to turn down a new deal in West Yorkshire, and signed for Spanish La Liga outfit Real Betis.

His debut 2025-26 season for the Seville-based side didn't go to plan, however.

How did Junior Firpo fare for Real Betis in 2025-26?

For Real Betis, 2025-26 was a brilliant year for the football club, as they finished fifth in the Spanish top flight.

As such, Manuel Pellegrini's men have qualified for the Champions League for 2026-27.

Betis was the team that Firpo developed through as a youngster and took his first steps in the senior game with, and so him returning there did hold significant sentimental value to him.

But, he would only make 16 appearances in all competitions for them last season, with 12 of those coming in La Liga, providing a mere two assists and zero goals on the year.

Firpo did suffer numerous hamstring problems last season which helped to limit his impact, but even when he was on the pitch, his performances and weren't anything to write home about.

As per FotMob, he completed just 35 successful passes, played 0.22 accurate long balls and delivered 0.54 accurate crosses per 90 in La Liga last year.

Firpo also registered an average of 0.43 successful dribbles, made 2.92 recoveries, created 0.87 chances and committed 1.19 fouls per game.

Betis failed to keep a single clean sheet whilst he was on the pitch, and so his role in Pellegrini's squad looks uncertain moving forward.

Daniel Farke's system would've been made for Firpo

During his final two years at Leeds, Firpo established himself as one of, if not the best, attacking full-backs in the Championship.

Indeed, he provided 18 assists across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons respectively.

Those returns were made even more impressive when you consider that Daniel Farke almost exclusively played with a 4-2-3-1 formation during his first two years at Elland Road.

Now though, Farke regularly deploys a back three with wing-backs, in a system that would've played to Firpo's attacking strengths even more.

Gabriel Gudmundsson's presence would've made it difficult for him to keep his starring role, but he may well have still played a bigger part for Leeds last season than he did with Betis.