"A huge blow" - Pundit believes Leeds United may regret current Cody Drameh situation | OneFootball

Highlights

After securing his services in 2020 from Fulham, Leeds United had landed a bit of a gem in right-back Cody Drameh, and after just over a year at Elland Road he'd made his first-team debut for the club.

With only 10 appearances to his name though in the Whites' first-team setup, Drameh has had to find opportunities elsewhere to accelerate his development - he played half a season for Cardiff in 2021-22 and subsequently won their Player of the Year award, whilst he won promotion with Luton Town in 2022-23 as he played 19 times on the way to play-off final glory at Wembley.

Even though Drameh has been improving leaps and bounds, there was still no place for him in Leeds' first-team going into 2023-24, and he was loaned out to Birmingham City for the remainer of the campaign from September 1 onwards.

Drameh has played 12 times already in the Championship for Wayne Rooney's side, but despite his high potential, it appears that Drameh has no future at Elland Road when that loan deal ends.

Going into the 2022-23 season, Drameh had a contract that expired at Elland Road at the end of the season, but with Daniel Farke having other options ahead of him at right-back, including summer addition Djed Spence, the decision was made to loan Drameh out once more.

And it appears that due to his lack of game-time at United, Drameh has zero intention of putting pen-to-paper on an extension with the West Yorkshire outfit.

That is according to Phil Hay of The Athletic, who also claims that a figure has been included in the loan agreement with Birmingham so that they can make Drameh's deal permanent should they wish to.

Birmingham signing Drameh for that fixed fee would be more beneficial for Leeds as if he departs at the end of the season into the free agents market, they will only land a small compensation sum for his services.

They would also have to offer Drameh a contract in the first place for that to happen, and it is pretty much a given that the Leeds hierarchy will do just that so that they at least get something back financially.

Have Leeds United made a mistake with their handling of Cody Drameh?

Former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer believes that the club could regret not giving Drameh more first-team football and essentially making him want to walk away from Elland Road for nothing considering what he has showed for the likes of Cardiff City and Luton Town in the Championship.

"Cody Drameh, Leeds United's talented right-back who is currently on loan to Birmingham City, has said he will not sign a new contract," Palmer said whilst speaking exclusively to Football League World.

"The 21-year-old is having a fine season with Birmingham, but he will walk away from Leeds in the summer with the club only receiving compensation and not a fee.

"This in my opinion will be a huge blow for the club.

"Cody played an integral part in Luton getting promoted to the Premier League last season and has showed great promise - he's still only 21 and seemingly with a bright future ahead of him.