Leeds United sent Junior Firpo contract warning as club keen to 'renegotiate' loanee's £11m permanent option
Your round-up of the latest Leeds United headlines after Saturday’s win at Cardiff City.
Leeds United climbed back into the Championship play-off places with a convincing, if not thrilling, 2-0 win at 10-man Cardiff City on Saturday. Goals either side of half-time from Largie Ramazani and Joel Piroe secured all three points for Daniel Farke’s men but wasteful finishing kept the scoreline a respectable one for the rock-bottom Bluebirds.
Preparations will already be underway for another big game this weekend as Leeds return home to host Coventry City at Elland Road, the first of a potentially tricky fixture run. And ahead of another busy week in West Yorkshire, the YEP has rounded up some of the latest stories surrounding the club.
Firpo contract warning
Carlton Palmer has warned Leeds against leaving it too late to sit down and discuss a contract extension with Junior Firpo. The left-back, along with Sam Byram, is into the final 12 months of his current deal and remains a key player, with Farke recently highlighting his leadership qualities.
"He [Farke] won't want to lose those players for nothing, that's for sure,” Palmer told Football League World of Byram and Firpo. “It's a difficult time because the season's kicked off, but time will tell whether they trigger an extension or get their contracts extended for another year, but I am sure they'll want to sit down and sort something out. In particular, you won't want to lose someone like Firpo for free after paying £10-15m to acquire him from Barcelona.
"The one thing that will happen is that Farke will sit down and speak to the Leeds hierarchy and if they do not extend these players' contracts, they'll already be trying to identify the players they'll look to bring in come January. These decisions will determine the outcome of the season. They need to get it right."
Kristensen fee
Eintracht Frankfurt have been impressed with the recent form of Rasmus Kristensen but could look to reduce the agreed option-to-buy. German outlet Fussball.News claim the Bundesliga club ‘would like to renegotiate’ the current permanent option, owing to the fact Kristensen will enter the final year of his Whites contract next summer.
Kristensen has quickly settled in at Frankfurt, playing every available league minute and winning plaudits from club chiefs for his battling spirit and versatility. The Dane has been hailed as a leader at the back and Leeds will hope to see his form continue, given they will benefit financially if a permanent option, reported to be worth up to £12.6million, is triggered.
Frankfurt are thought to be keen on keeping Kristensen for the long-term but hope discussions with Leeds could see that option-to-buy reduced. It remains to be seen how Elland Road chiefs would approach those talks but there was willingness this summer to accept relatively low fees for the likes of Diego Llorente and Marc Roca, in order to get their wages off the books.