Daniel Farke has discussed the possibility that Leeds United, with their present injury crisis, will enter the free agent market.
Daniel Farke had just two fit senior midfield players when midfielder Ilia Gruev was forced to leave the 1-1 draw at Norwich City after only 20 minutes due to a knee injury.
Speaking to reporters following the match at Carrow Road, Farke stated that although Leeds still do not know the full extent of Gruev’s injury, they are not overly optimistic.
Gruev will be on the sidelines alongside Ethan Ampadu, Manor Solomon, Dan James, and Isaac Schmidt, though the latter may be returning to Sunderland.
Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell would be under a lot of pressure to be healthy if Gruev was to miss any time.
Farke on the possibility of Leeds signing a free agent
Currently available free players that can play in midfield include Edouard Michut, a summer 2023 target for Leeds, who may be the most intriguing option.
On the other hand, by this point in the season, anyone without a club will have essentially been without a team for the better part of five months, neither practicing nor competing.
As a result, everyone who comes in would need a very long time to get fit—a point that Farke made in his press conference prior to Sunderland.
However, Farke also stated that Leeds hasn’t completely dismissed the concept and that they should at least give it a shot because it is “professional.”
“First and foremost, we need to wait to see how Ilia turns out and how long he will be out,” he stated. As professionals, it is our responsibility to stay informed, find out who might be accessible, and consider our options. To be quite honest, I’m not a huge fan of signing players whose contracts expire at the start of October.
This indicates that they have missed around five months of team training since May. It takes time for them to get totally healthy and be able to play first-teak football, even if you bring them in. The player out for a few weeks due to injury might return sooner than those out of training for five months.
“I believe that this is generally a panic purchase or an attempt to appear as though you are taking action. It’s professional, in my opinion, to double verify, and you never know who might be available right now to meet the needs. Undoubtedly, it’s a part of our job tasks.
To be really honest though, I don’t think their signings are that great. First, though, we await the results of Ilia’s scan, which we hope will be positive. We’ll take a look if there’s an unexpected diagnosis, but I can’t be certain.
What’s new on Leeds’ injury to Ilia Gruev?
As previously noted, during his press conference earlier this afternoon, Farke was unable to offer much of an update on Gruev.
Farke did, however, appear a little more upbeat than he did immediately before the game in Norwich, so maybe he has avoided major harm.
“No,” he replied. He is scheduled to undergo a scan later today, but we are still awaiting additional evaluation. I could go into further detail tonight. However, as of right now, it appears slightly better and isn’t too bad, but we’ll wait for the scan.
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