Daniel Farke answered questions after Leeds United’s 4-1 win over Hannover 96 and was honest about the needs his squad still has in the transfer window while his prized assets keep grafting away
Sleep will wait for Daniel Farke as Leeds United keep searching for full-backs and central midfielders this summer, while alarm bells are yet to start ringing on Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto’s futures. In a transfer window where interest is expected in both forwards, neither has given the manager any cause for concern with their commitment to the cause.
With the new season 16 days away, four new faces have been added, including a right-back and central midfielder. However, 10 options across those positions, of varying importance, have left the club since the end of last season.
“Overall, we have lost two really good midfield options with Archie Gray and also with Glen Kamara,” said Farke. “We brought Joe Rothwell, a pretty experienced player, in, who is also good in possession and can chip in with goals and great set-pieces.
“So we’re happy so far, but, especially in central positions, we won’t fall asleep until the window is closed. In many positions, we are already more or less done in our planning, but this is definitely one of the positions we could do with a new addition, but it has to fit in all the ways.
“It has to be a quality player, good personality, he has to bring the skills we need and to be affordable, so all these topics have to come together, but this is definitely one of the areas where we will stay awake.”
In the full-back positions too, Jayden Bogle and Junior Firpo could lock down the right and left sides respectively from August, with Sam Byram providing cover for both. However, the 30-year-old cannot be in two places at once and his injury record shows it would not be a surprise if he’s not available to cover either flank at times next term.
Max Wober played at left-back in Wednesday’s friendly win over Hannover 96 and Pascal Struijk has been used there in the past too, but Farke, it seems, would rather not pull them out of the centre too often.
“Overall, we’ve got three options with Junior, Jayden and Sam,” he said. “Quality options, but we also know a bit about the injury CV of Sam and we have to be careful.
“One thing is for sure, just with three full-backs and one a bit older who has an injury CV, it will be difficult to survive in the Championship. It’s definitely also one of the areas we still need to be aware and if there is a possibility to strengthen the squad in numbers, it’s definitely something we should look at, yes.”
Meanwhile, Summerville and Gnonto remain key members of Farke’s plans for the coming season. Neither has presented the manager with any problems in training and they have bought into this pre-season programme up to now.
Last August, Gnonto memorably downed tools in an effort to force a move away from Elland Road and he was exiled from the squad until he apologised. There have been no repeats of this behaviour and while the manager cannot rule anything out before August 31, he remains hopeful about their futures for now.
“In football, you can never rule out anything, so all is possible,” he said. “For that, I can’t give any guarantees because I am not a magician. I can just judge what I see and both are fully integrated, they have fun to be here, they work hard.
“Even today was a game the opponent tried to set some signs and the first target is always Cree Summerville or Willy Gnonto and many tackles, but how mature they handled it and they were not annoyed, kept going in order to bring themselves into good shape.
“For that, I just can judge what I see. I see hard work, I see commitment, I see great attitude and, for that, I am more than hopeful they will chip in with top performances like last season.”
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