Leeds United can save £7.5m as ‘very, very good’ youngster delivers perfect audition to Daniel Farke

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While Manor Solomon most certainly deserves a permanent deal at Leeds United, the future of another of this season’s loanees is slightly more up in the air as Premier League football returns to Elland Road.

Tottenham Hotspur allegedly want £15 million for the former Fulham and Shakhtar Donetsk wideman.

A bargain, really, considering just how effective he proved to be in the Championship run-in. Manor Solomon was a gamble, considering he had started only six league matches in the previous two seasons due to injury, but a roll of the dice which saw Daniel Farke hit the jackpot.

When it comes to Joe Rothwell, however, there may be just as many cons as pros with regards to keeping the AFC Bournemouth-owned midfielder for another season.

And with Darko Gyabi set to return to Leeds United following the expiry of his short-term deal with Plymouth Argyle, do the Yorkshire giants already have a potential replacement in-house?

Leeds United’s Darko Gyabi impresses in new Plymouth Argyle role

Bournemouth value Rothwell at £7.5 million.

For a 30-year-old midfielder who has not really kicked on in the Premier League before, and who would probably be a squad player next term rather than a regular starter, that valuation feels a little on the costly side.

But Gyabi, the £5 million England international who joined Leeds from Manchester City when Kalvin Phillips moved to the Etihad, might just possess the raw potential to be moulded into a Rothwell-esque, ball-carrying dynamo in his absence.

Former Plymouth boss Wayne Rooney highlighted Gyabi’s ability to drive forwards from deep during the England legend’s brief spell in charge at Home Park. Former assistant Neil Shuttleworth, meanwhile, spoke about the ‘explosive’ athleticism which helps him cover so much ground with those rangy, telescopic legs.

And, as current Argyle coach Miron Muslic praises Darko Gyabi’s development yet again, the London-born 21-year-old prepares to return to Elland Road having added another string to his bow.

Gyabi can emulate Joe Rothwell’s ball-carrying abiltiy

Gyabi was ‘excellent’, to quote the Plymouth Herald, in an unfamiliar number ten role behind the centre-forward during the agonising Good Friday defeat by Middlesbrough.

“This is a good, good lad. He simply does not get enough credit here because he’s not from here. That’s very simple, he’s a player on loan,” Muslic explains.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	44	27	13	4	89	29	60	94
2	BurnleyBurnley	44	26	16	2	61	15	46	94
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	44	27	7	10	60	35	25	86
4	SunderlandSunderland	44	21	13	10	58	41	17	76

“If you look at his performance at Middlesbrough in a different position, if you look at his performance [on the Easter Monday victory over Coventry City], and if you look also at some performances previously that’s actually very, very good for a boy who just turned 21.”

The Plymouth Herald rated Gyabi’s eye-catching display in a more advanced position against Boro as perhaps ‘his best game for Argyle’ across the entire campaign.

“That position seems to bring the best out of him in terms of his athleticism and running power going forward,” they add. “He created a number of good scoring opportunities for the Pilgrims as well as having a couple of his own.”

Considering the attributes Rothwell tends to bring to the table – ball-carrying from deep and purposeful passes into the final third – Gyabi’s evolution into a more attack-minded operator may yet save Leeds from having to spend upwards of £7.5 million on an ageing squad player.