Daniel Farke may not want a busy January transfer window at Leeds United but his hand may be forced if Max Wober leaves.
Wober is Leeds‘ only senior centre-back cover but has found game time hard to come by this season since returning from a loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Pascal Struijk and Joe Rodon has been Farke‘s first choice pairing and Wober simply hasn’t been able to dislodge them at any point in the opening half of the campaign, though some opportunities have cropped up recently at left-back due to Junior Firpo’s injury.
Red Bull Salzburg are keen on Wober ahead of the window opening next month and it is a move he would reportedly be open to, having played there before joining Leeds.
With that in mind, here are three Premier League centre-backs Leeds should look at targeting if they need to replace Wober.
Andrew Omobamidele – Nottingham Forest
One big pull regarding Andrew Omobamidele is that he has worked under Farke before, with the Leeds boss giving him both his senior and Premier League debuts at Norwich City.
Omobamidele left Norwich to join Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2023 but has made just 15 appearances in all competitions since. Just one of those have come this season in the Carabao Cup.
He has found game time extremely hard to come by due to the form of both Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic and so is set to be available in January, with Leeds having been keen in the summer.
At 22, Omobamidele still has plenty of room to development and Leeds could even attempt to sign him permanently with a view to becoming a long-term staple at Elland Road.
Willy Boly – Nottingham Forest
One of Omobamidele’s teammates at Forest who has also struggled for minutes this season is Willy Boly, though he is at the complete opposite end of his career.
Boly has played just one minute of football since the opening day of the campaign and like Omobamidele, is firmly behind Murillo and Milenkovic in the pecking order.
Leeds could do a lot worse than attempting a loan deal for Boly until the end of the season considering he has experience of getting out of the Championship with Wolves.
Boly would also add plenty of height to a relatively small Leeds team and given their lack of set-piece threat, that is an asset they certainly shouldn’t look past.
Rob Holding – Crystal Palace
Another experienced Premier League player struggling for minutes is Rob Holding, whose move to Crystal Palace simply hasn’t worked out.
Since joining Palace from Arsenal in the summer of 2023, Holding has played just once in any competition. He is way down the pecking order for a spot in Oliver Glasner’s team.
However, at 29, Holding still has plenty of years ahead of him in his playing career and dropping down a division could be what he needs.
Considering his lack of game time, though, Leeds shouldn’t be looking at anything more than a loan until the end of the season with this one.
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