Daniel Farke has shared the likelihood of Leeds United dipping into the free agent market amid their current injury crisis.
Midfielder Ilia Gruev was forced to limp off inside 20 minutes with a knee injury in the 1-1 draw at Norwich City, leaving Daniel Farke with only two fit senior midfielders.
Farke says Leeds still do not know the severity of Gruev‘s injury but was not overly confident about it when speaking after the game at Carrow Road.
Gruev is set to join Ethan Ampadu, Manor Solomon, Max Wober, Dan James and Isaac Schmidt on the sidelines, though the latter could be back at Sunderland.
If Gruev is to be out for any period of time, it would place a lot of pressure on both Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell to stay fit.
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Farke on whether Leeds will sign a free agent
At the moment there are a number of free agents on the market who could cover in midfield, with summer 2023 Leeds target Edouard Michut perhaps the most eye-catching.
However, anyone without a club at this stage of the season will have effectively spent the best part of five months not playing or training with a team.
As such, it would take an awful amount of time for anyone who comes in to get fit, something which Farke alluded to in his pre-Sunderland press conference.
At the same time, however, Farke did suggest Leeds certainly haven’t shut down the idea and believes it is ‘professional’ for them to at least have a look.
He said: “First of all, we have to wait for the outcome with Ilia and how long he’ll be out. It’s one of our professional duties to be aware and check who is perhaps available and what we could do. If I’m honest, I’m not a big friend of signing players who are out of contract at the beginning of October.
“It means they have been out of team training since May, around five months. Even if you bring them in, it takes a while until they are fully fit and can play first-teak football. The player who is injured for the next few weeks, he could be back earlier than those who are not training for five months.
“Quite often, I think it’s a panic buy or to try and show that you are doing something. I think it’s professional to check and sometimes, there could be someone who suits the needs in this moment. It’s definitely one of our professional duties.
“But if I’m honest, I’m not a big believer in these signings. But first of all, we wait for a positive outcome from the scan of Ilia. If there is a shocking diagnosis, we’ll have a look but I can’t confirm.”
What is the latest on Ilia Gruev’s injury for Leeds?
As mentioned, Farke was unable to provide much of an update on Gruev in his press conference earlier this afternoon.
However, Farke did seem slightly more positive than straight after the game at Norwich, and so hopefully he has managed to avoid serious damage.
He said: “No. We are still waiting for further assessment, he will have a scan later today. I could tell you more this evening. But as it stands, it looks a bit better today, doesn’t look that bad but we will wait for the scan.”
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