Farke noted” – Leeds United urged to consider free agent pair amid new injury crisis
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Leeds United are in a crisis in midfield after long-term injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev in back-to-back fixtures this week, leaving Daniel Farke short of options in the centre of the park.
Leeds entered the new season as one of the early season favourites, but face their promotion hopes derailing after recent blows to their squad.
They entered the campaign with a full squad available for the clash with Portsmouth. However, naturally, there are going to be injury and fitness issues which arise over the course of the season, which has already proven to be the case.
The likes of Dan James, Manor Solomon, Max Wöber, and Isaac Schmidt have missed action of late, but it is Ampadu and Gruev’s issues which seriously threaten Leeds’ chances of success.
Leeds’ skipper is set to be out for around 10 weeks, according to Farke. That’s after damaging his lateral knee ligaments in the win over Coventry City.
The Welsh international was forced off just before half-time and was replaced by Ao Tanaka. Farke has since confirmed that the knee injury that he sustained against the Sky Blues has ruled him out until close to January.
It’s a huge blow for the remainder of the games in 2024, which has only been made worse following the news of Ilia Gruev’s injury. Leeds have a real predicament in midfield now after he hobbled out of the draw against Norwich with a knee issue of his own.
Like Ampadu, Gruev had tried to continue in the game, but he was forced off after just 20 minutes. Joe Rothwell took his place alongside Tanaka at the base of midfield for the remainder of the clash, with Leeds fighting back from a goal down to take a point in a 1-1 draw.
