Leeds United outline eight absentees for Wrexham friendly, four injury issues | OneFootball

Leeds United were without eight first-team players for their opening pre-season friendly against Wrexham, with four missing through injury.

According to yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, the injured quartet were Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Ilia Gruev, while Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson were absent for post-World Cup reasons.

Calvert-Lewin suffered a small setback in pre-season that halted his individual programme. He is now training individually in camp and building towards a return to team training and playing.

Bijol took a knock to his knee, hence his omission. Bornauw had a minor issue and was not risked.

Gruev’s 2025-26 campaign ended early with a meniscus knee injury. He was expected to be back for pre-season, named in the USA tour group, but his comeback could take some time.

Okafor has been given an extended break after reaching the World Cup quarter-final with Switzerland, so he was not named in the travelling squad.

Other World Cup players are due to join up later. Aaronson was named in the squad but has not yet been seen with the group and is expected to feature later in the tour.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk