Former Leeds United goalkeeper Paul Robinson has been giving his thoughts on a possible January exit for a “talented” player.
Possible Leeds exit in January
The Whites were busy over the summer, with a number of incomings and outgoings made at Elland Road, alongside a change of ownership in the 49ers Enterprises and Daniel Farke being brought in as manager. Things have started to click on the pitch following a tricky start to the Championship season, with Leeds now pushing to catch both Leicester City and Ipswich Town at the top of the table.
Ethan Ampadu (Chelsea)
Undisclosed
Karl Darlow (Newcastle United)
Undisclosed
Sam Byram (Norwich City)
Free
Joe Rodon (Tottenham Hotspur)
Loan
Joel Piroe (Swansea City)
Undisclosed
Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur)
Loan
Ilia Gruev (Werder Bremen)
Undisclosed
Glenn Kamara (Rangers)
Undisclosed
Jaidon Anthony (Bournemouth)
Loan
All fees from Sky Sports
The games come thick and fast this month, although plans appear to be underway ahead of the January transfer window. The focus could be on exits compared to new arrivals, with Graham Smyth of The Yorkshire Evening Post claiming that a previously 'unthinkable' exit for centre-back Charlie Cresswell could now be on the cards in January.
Talking about the possibility of Cresswell leaving in the New Year to MOT Leeds News, Robinson, who contributes for Sky Sports, said that due to Pascal Struijk’s recent injury, there’s “no way” Farke will sanction a departure without bringing in a replacement.
“I think he had a good loan spell last season at Millwall that gave him some really good first-team experience. He’s a talented player, a really talented young player who will be playing in the Leeds first team at some point in the future.
“Whether the manager deems that to fit in the near-future or not is yet to be seen [but] with the injury to Pascal Struijk there’s no way he’s going to let players leave in January. He’s not going to let players leave that are good to him, that are useful to him.
“You look at the squad, the size of the squad, the bench, they’re a strong squad. Why would you weaken that? Unless you’re going to bring players in there’s no reason to let players go in January, especially players like Charlie Cresswell when you’ve got injuries in the squad.”
Leeds’ current centre-backs
Currently, Farke has Joe Rodon and Struijk as his first-choice centre-back pairing, with the likes of club captain Liam Cooper and Cresswell as alternative options. However, Cresswell, 21, has started just one league game all season and has even been left out of the squad completely in six of the last seven Championship fixtures. (Charlie Cresswell stats – Transfermarkt)
Midfielder Ethan Ampadu and right-back Luke Ayling also have a history of turning out in a central defensive role if needed, although the former is a regular in midfield and the latter falling out of favour behind Archie Gray, Sam Byram and Djed Spence.
Therefore, if Leeds were to sanction a loan exit for Cresswell in the coming weeks, bringing in a replacement could be handy, as Robinson alludes to, making this one to watch.