"Farke noted" - Leeds United urged to consider free agent pair amid new injury crisis | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit has urged Daniel Farke to consider two free agent options following midfield injury woes.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leeds United are in a crisis in midfield after long-term injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev in back-to-back fixtures this week, leaving Daniel Farke short of options in the centre of the park.

Leeds entered the new season as one of the early season favourites, but face their promotion hopes derailing after recent blows to their squad.

They entered the campaign with a full squad available for the clash with Portsmouth. However, naturally, there are going to be injury and fitness issues which arise over the course of the season, which has already proven to be the case.

The likes of Dan James, Manor Solomon, Max Wöber, and Isaac Schmidt have missed action of late, but it is Ampadu and Gruev's issues which seriously threaten Leeds' chances of success.

Leeds' skipper is set to be out for around 10 weeks, according to Farke. That's after damaging his lateral knee ligaments in the win over Coventry City.

The Welsh international was forced off just before half-time and was replaced by Ao Tanaka. Farke has since confirmed that the knee injury that he sustained against the Sky Blues has ruled him out until close to January.

It's a huge blow for the remainder of the games in 2024, which has only been made worse following the news of Ilia Gruev's injury. Leeds have a real predicament in midfield now after he hobbled out of the draw against Norwich with a knee issue of his own.

Like Ampadu, Gruev had tried to continue in the game, but he was forced off after just 20 minutes. Joe Rothwell took his place alongside Tanaka at the base of midfield for the remainder of the clash, with Leeds fighting back from a goal down to take a point in a 1-1 draw.

The Yorkshire Evening Post are reporting that after the required surgery to a significant injury to his meniscus, he is looking at months out of action, rather than weeks. Leeds are well-placed to have a strong season, but there is added pressure on their midfield, which is stretched extremely thin and cannot afford any further issues.

Daniel Farke and Leeds United's serious midfield headache

Not only is Ampadu captain and one of the first names on the teamsheet, but a case could be made that he is Leeds' most influential player. It has left the club in a situation that not many would have expected going into the campaign.

Gruev and Ampadu each played close to every minute during the second half of last season, and Leeds have very little depth to deal with two problems in the same area. It perhaps raises the idea of contingency planning via further additions within the free agent market.

We asked FLW’s Leeds United fan pundit Kris Smith for his thoughts on who the club could look to acquire in the unfortunate circumstance they are in. He said: "Leeds could really do with a deep-lying No.6 if Gruev is out for a lengthy period as expected.

"Farke noted at his press conference that it is hard to find any viable free agents in October, and he is right in that sense.

"Given that the players who have been released have been out of proper training since May, so that is five months, and they will need to get back up to speed.

"However, if Leeds are looking for one, then the two standout names to me when looking at the list of free agents are Etienne Capoue and Christoph Kramer.

"Capoue is off the back of leaving Villarreal, and Kramer has departed Borussia Mönchengladbach. Capoue has a lot to offer, even at the age of 36, but he is getting on now, having been a regular in La Liga for the last three seasons.

"He would add a lot of good physical presence to a fairly small and weak side in comparison to a lot of other Championship teams, especially in the middle of the park with Ampadu out.

"He is definitely capable in possession as well after playing in La Liga and the Premier League with Tottenham and Watford.

"As for Kramer, he looks like an obvious one that Farke could be on board with, given that he was part of his side in 2022/23 at Gladbach and captained the team a lot as well.

"It's reasonable to believe he would not need as much input tactically as a lot of other free agent signings, as he would know what Farke demands of his No.6.

"Neither signing, for me, is ideal; they won't be match fit and would need a lot of time to get up to speed.

"But it might now be a case of needs must when going into more crucial games for Farke and Leeds.

"That's unless they intend to lean on young Charlie Crew, who is yet to make a senior appearance for us, and is asking a lot of a player when we're looking to be promoted automatically."

Leeds' search for a free agent to bolster Farke's ranks

Speaking during his pre-Sunderland press conference, Farke explained his thoughts on signing someone from the free agent market. He said: "I think it's one of our professional duties to be aware and also to check who is perhaps available and what we could do.

"If I'm really honest, I'm not a big friend of signing players who are out of contract in the beginning of October, because it means more or less they are out of team training since May. That means they are out of team training since, whatever, five months.

"And even if you bring them in, it lasts also a while until they are really ready to go and fully fit and really could play first-team football. and then quite often the player who is right now injured for the next few weeks, he's even even back in perhaps and ready to go earlier than the players who are out for since five months.

"I think quite often it's a bit like a panic buy or like to pretend to do something anyhow. I think it's professional to check it, and sometimes out of coincidence or out of a special situation, there could be someone out who really suits the needs in this moment."

His stance may need to change on that since the latest news has emerged regarding Gruev, and there are genuinely good players who can impact Leeds' first-team squad who are available in the market. The likes of Kramer, Capoue, Francis Coquelin, Cheikhou Kouyate, and Edouard Michut are all options that they should be considering for depth and cover.

It's an incredibly difficult and unfortunate situation for the club, but as Smith says: needs must.