Pascal Struijk has taken to Instagram after the Leeds United players returned to training over the weekend, travelling to Valencia to undergo warm-weather training – ahead of our return to action against Manchester City on December 28.
The majority of the Leeds squad, and the Under-21 side are out in Valencia. Patrick Bamford is in Munich, in which he is undergoing more surgery, on his groin. Left-back Junior Firpo will travel later this week, after picking up a groin strain.
Goalkeepers Illan Meslier and Kris Klaesson are also missing, suffering from a viral infection. Whether they will travel to Spain in the next few days remains to be seen. Leeds take on Spanish side Elche on Thursday evening in a friendly.
Images and clips are beginning to emerge from the Valencia camp on social media, including Adam Forshaw scoring a delightful free-kick. Struijk has now released some photos of himself, posting a three-word message on Instagram.
Struijk has taken to Instagram after Leeds players returned to training
Of course, the Leeds squad in Valencia is also missing our three World Cup players. Rasmus Kristensen’s Denmark were knocked out of the group stages, while USA duo Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson were knocked out in the last 16.
They are likely to link up a bit later. Struijk almost joined that trio, in playing at the World Cup. Indeed, Struijk was in the preliminary squads for Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands. But he did not make the final cut, yet to win his first cap.
Leeds will return on Thursday, before facing City. While it seems like a tall order to beat City, one thing in Leeds’ favour will be the fact that City have 16 of their squad in Qatar – while Leeds have just three, all of which are now out.
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