Leeds United latest as midfielder eyes move and emotional departure revealed

Several of Leeds United’s promotion-winning squad are now plying their trade elsewhere after leaving Elland Road just weeks after leading the Whites back into the Premier League.

Rasmus Kristensen and Sam Greenwood have departed on permanent deals to Eintracht Frankfurt and Pogon Szczecin respectively and both Junior Firpo and Darko Gyabi made permanent exits from Elland Road. Max Wober, Largie Ramazani, Mateo Joseph, Joe Gelhardt, Isaac Schmidt and Charlie Crew were all handed loan moves elsewhere and both Patrick Bamford and Josuha Guilavogui, with the latter departing when his contract came to a close.

The latter of that duo remains without a club despite being linked with several possible suitors since his departure from Elland Road was confirmed in July - and Guilavogui believes he is ‘still on track’ to find a new club as he looks to build on ‘an exceptional year’ with the Whites.

“My father tells me, ‘I hope there’s still a contract,’ but I’ll play football, but now the notion of happiness comes first,” he said on Le Podcast des Paternelles. “Can I go to a club that will give me the opportunity to be happy? I love football, of course. Last year, I came off an exceptional year.

“At Leeds, we’re promoted, we win the league, we’re Champions at the last minute. So you tell yourself that, in the end, maybe the footballer’s little death was my little gift. Maybe it was my little passing of the torch: ‘You’ve worked hard, now rest.’ But deep down, there’s still that desire. “Yes, I continue to train. I tell myself, ‘And if I’m not ready when something happens, I’ll blame myself. “Last year, I signed for Leeds on October 25th… I’m still on track.”

Defender reveals emotional response to Whites departure

Several departures have impacted on Leeds United fans over recent years - but the departure of the iconic Marcelo Bielsa probably made more of an impact than any other.

The Argentine manager had taken charge of the likes of Marseille, Lazio and Athletic Bilbao prior to his arrival at Elland Road in 2018 and he went on to be a major success as his high-intensity brand of football led the Whites back into the Premier League in 2020 and he secured a top ten finish in the top flight 12 months later. However, Bielsa departed Elland Road in February 2022 with his side sat just above the relegation zone and has since returned to work as manager of the Uruguay national team.

Former Whites defender Junior Firpo became a firm favourite until Bielsa - and he revealed just how his Leeds team-mates reacted to the departure of their popular manager.

As per El Observador, the former Whites full-back said: “He was a little crazy, as his nickname suggests, but in a good way. He was very obsessive about the details. Until you made a good pass, it wasn’t worth it. And you could repeat it 50 times. It doesn’t matter if you scored the goal, if the ball wasn’t moved well or rotated correctly as he intended, it wasn’t done well.

“It was one of the hardest goodbyes to a manager I’ve ever experienced. All the players who had been with him for several years were crying in the locker room. It was like when you know something is going to collapse, but you’d rather let it collapse with him than save it with someone else. That was that feeling. We miraculously survived in the last game and stayed in the league, but the fans were chanting his name. It was a very difficult decision for the club.”

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