Leeds United’s new regime have shown themselves to be pretty ruthless when it comes to moving players on.
The Whites let go of 21 players over the course of the summer, the majority of which were on the fringes at Elland Road, but could still have had a part to play in the Championship.
Exits for the likes of Liam Cooper, Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas have represented the start of a new era at Leeds with Patrick Bamford the only real mainstay left from Marcelo Bielsa’s promotion season.
All three of Cooper, Ayling and Dallas were let go on a free in June and Leeds now have some more big contract decisions to make in the next year or two.
Of course, what does make that harder is the fact Leeds do not know what division they will be playing in next season.
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Leeds have massive Junior Firpo decision
Leeds only have two senior players who are out of contract in 2025 and those are Junior Firpo and Sam Byram.
Byram has already taken on somewhat of a reduced role this season and so it seems unlikely he will stay for a third year, but it is certainly more complicated with Firpo.
It was reported by Phil Hay earlier this year that Leeds have no intention of offering Firpo a new deal but his performances over the last nine months will have the board reconsidering that stance.
No player in the Championship has registered more open play assists than Firpo in 2024, and finally he looks as though he is in a really good place with his fitness, which is contributing to his fine form.
There had been rumours Firpo was on his way out over the summer but it quickly became apparent that is all they were. He is now comfortably one of, if not the best left-back in the league.
If Leeds get promoted, the doubts surrounding his defensive ability will undoubtedly resurface considering how much he struggled during his two seasons at that level.
However, Firpo could hardly stay fit and was playing under managers who quite clearly didn’t suit his style. That said, he can’t be eliminated of all the blame.
Considering his stock is at the highest it has ever been at Leeds, it would be a strange decision to let him run his contract down and leave for nothing.
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Firpo contract verdict
With all that said, Leeds should be looking at least beginning talks with Firpo over a new deal as his form has earned it.
There is no guarantee Firpo would even want to sign it but it would be unfair for Leeds not to at least try and reward him for his improvement over the last year.
If he was to sign it and Leeds remained in the Championship, they would have either a potentially sellable asset, or a top player in this division.
If Leeds were to return to the Premier League, they could also sign some real quality at left-back to compete alongside Firpo, alleviating him of the pressure of having to prove himself at the top level again.
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