Defender sold by Leeds United in summer is yet to even play for new club

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Leeds United only sold one senior player in the summer: Sam Greenwood. Rasmus Kristensen was added to this year’s books, despite agreeing a permanent move in April.

Frankfurt opted to make Kristensen’s loan permanent six months ago, and Leeds chose to push it into the 2025-26 season to give them more room with PSR. Greenwood joined Polish side Pogon for £3.5m.

Others left permanently on a free transfer. Patrick Bamford and Darko Gyabi were released towards the end of the window, with Gyabi having to be released to join a Hull City side who are under embargo.

Junior Firpo, Josuha Guilavogui, and a raft of youngsters also left on free transfers. But there was another player who left for a permanent fee in the summer, whose exit might have gone slightly under the radar.

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Diogo Monteiro yet to play for his new club after returning home

Having only just turned 18, Diogo Monteiro joined Leeds for a £1m fee in January 2023 from Swiss side Servette, after breaking into their senior side. Monteiro had played seven times for Servette’s first team.

But two and a half years later, Monteiro leaves Leeds, having never made a senior appearance for Leeds despite never leaving the club on loan. The Portugal U20 international was a regular for Leeds 21s.

Monteiro joined top-tier Portuguese side Arouca for an undisclosed fee, according to Leeds’ website, which prompted reaction from Mateo Joseph and Junior Firpo. But he’s yet to make his debut for Arouca.

How close did Diogo Monteiro get to playing for Leeds?

Indeed, Monteiro has only managed to make the bench in half of Arouca’s Liga NOS matches so far. He’s been an unused sub in three games and failing to even make the matchday squad in three others.

Joining Leeds in the same window as Georginio Rutter and Weston McKennie, it wasn’t long before the Portugal youth international was already trying to impress a new manager. Jesse Marsch left in February.

Michael Skubala, Javi Gracia and Sam Allardyce followed that season. Monteiro did make the bench for four League games during that six-month stretch, two of which came under new Watford boss Gracia.

Monteiro was an unused sub in the FA Cup defeat to Fulham, the losses to Man United and Everton under Skubala, and then the 1-0 win over Southampton in Gracia’s first game. That was as close as he ever got.