Marc Roca’s side are now ‘leading’ the race to sign Leeds United mainstay and could strike January deal

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Daniel Farke will be desperate to keep his Leeds United squad intact and perhaps even add one or two in January, but recent history shows the chances of doing that seem slim.

In the summer, Daniel Farke had hoped to keep his squad together after a play-off final loss at Wembley to Southampton. But, Leeds were forced into a mini rebuild after the departures of four key players.

Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter were sold for a combined fee of north of £100m while Glen Kamara joined Rennes. Kamara is being linked with clubs like Southampton and Ipswich Town.

In January, there is always going to be interest in some of Farke’s key players and one that is likely to be the subject of interest is left-back Junior Firpo. The star has just entered the final six months of his deal.

• READ MORE: Daniel Farke explains why he decided to drop Ethan Ampadu from the starting line-up

Marc Roca and Diego Llorente reunion with Leeds star in pipeline

Clubs can now approach Firpo on a pre-contract, it would see him sign for a new club now, and join them for in June. Graeme Bailey told LeedsUnited.News that Firpo may only sign a new deal if Leeds go up.

However, Firpo may choose not to sign a new deal even with promotion. TeamTalk now report that his future remains ‘unsolved’ now we are in January, with Real Betis ‘leading the chase’ to sign Firpo now.

It might even be that Marc Roca and Diego Llorente’s La Liga side, who are in the Europa Conference League and sit ninth in Spain’s top tier, choose to do a deal now for Firpo and sign him in the summer.

Junior Firpo will surely be tempted by a move to Real Betis

Just before his 18th birthday, Real Betis signed Firpo from Spanish minnows Malagueno. He went on to play 43 times for Betis’ side after 45 appearances for their second string, having a hand in 12 goals.

That form saw him join Barcelona and after a brief spell at the Nou Camp, Firpo moved to Leeds in the summer of 2021. Given he spent five years on the books at Betis, he may feel he has unfinished business.

Just 43 senior games in the five years he spent with Betis is not much in the grand scheme of things and if Manuel Pellegrini’s side do come calling for Firpo, it is easily imaginable that he opts to return to Betis.

The Spanish club are not the only side to be linked with Firpo. Turkish giants Besiktas also want Firpo, as they look to bring in a replacement for the much-criticised former West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku.