Daniel Farke is slowly but surely handing his glut of summer signings the chance to impress at Leeds United.
Leeds brought in eight new players during the window as they were forced into a considerably bigger rebuild than had been first anticipated after the play-off final defeat to Southampton.
Joe Rodon, Joe Rothwell and Jayden Bogle all arrived in July and have appeared in every league game so far, though each of Rothwell’s have come from the bench.
Leeds then went on a late window surge to bring in Largie Ramazani, Manor Solomon, Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt.
Neil Redfearn described Solomon as too good for the Championship after his first appearance, while Ramazani drew praise from Tony Dorigo after his full debut goal.
Tanaka and Schmidt, meanwhile, have been very much eased into the action by Farke. That said, Leeds fans calls for Tanaka to get a start are getting louder.
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Graham Smyth says Manor Solomon is raising ‘alarm’ at Leeds
Of the names brought in by Leeds over the course of the summer, it is hard not to view Solomon as the marquee arrival.
Solomon has experience of playing in the Champions League and coming from a club like Tottenham, naturally will have a higher expectation on him.
However, Solomon’s move to Leeds has come on the back of him missing almost an entire year of football through injury, and so there was always some risk attached.
Solomon played four games in quick succession for club and country earlier this month, which already looks as though it has taken its toll.
He missed last weekend’s win at Cardiff City with a back issue, and has now been ruled out of tomorrow’s game with Coventry City due to a hamstring problem.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Inside Elland Road Podcast, journalist Graham Smyth says these early injury struggles are already raising an ‘alarm’ given his recent track record.
He said: “Then you have Manor Solomon whose back injury has translated into a hamstring problem. There’s an alarm going off already with Solomon, he’s already missing games, through not only injury, but injuries and he’s a player who was coming off a long-term one.
“That really is less than ideal at this stage, or any stage, but particularly so early in the season when it was flagged by all and sundry. You don’t want him to become a luxury signing who dips in and out, and shows his quality.
“You want him to be someone who dominates this league consistently, so you want him in and around it and involved.”
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When is Manor Solomon expected to be back for Leeds?
Given the quite evident quality Solomon possesses, it is very disappointing to lose him for games such as Coventry, who are likely to make it difficult based on the two matches last season.
Thankfully, though, it doesn’t look like Solomon will be out for too long, with Farke hopeful of him returning either at Norwich City or Sunderland.
However, Leeds simply cannot afford to rush him back or could face losing him for an even longer period.
Farke said: “Sadly we have a few injury updates and also some problems this week. Manor Solomon is out for this game. Had some back problems, has resulted in problem with his hamstring. Hope to have him back for the last game before the international break, perhaps for Norwich.”
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