Leeds United veteran 'wanted' by Championship rivals after proposed Hull City move collapses
The Leeds United veteran is currently without a club after his Elland Road contract expired last season
Leeds United’s Championship rivals Derby County have emerged as contenders to sign former Whites captain Liam Cooper after a move to Hull City reportedly collapsed.
As reported by the YEP earlier this week, the Tigers had hoped to conclude a deal for Cooper before the end of the week as the centre-back sought new pastures after his Elland Road contract expired at the end of last season. Talks took place between Cooper's camp and Leeds but no contract offer came with the club only suggesting what they would be willing to consider in principle, which included a salary reflective of game-time and his place in the pecking order. Daniel Farke has Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk as his first-choice centre-half pairing while Max Wober, at the time of writing, also remains at the club.
Cooper had been pursued by Blackburn Rovers while he also had offers from abroad but he appeared set for a move to Hull which would have seen him come up against Leeds this weekend, if a deal was completed, as the Tigers prepare to travel to Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
However, Darren Witcoop has now reported that a move to Hull has fallen through with recently-promoted Derby now ‘in the running’ for Cooper alongside another Championship club. The defender first joined Leeds in 2014 from Chesterfield and was captain under Marcelo Bielsa as Leeds were promoted to the Premier League in 2020 after winning the Championship title.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke indicated in July that Cooper would not be part of his plans for the 2024-25 season, as he said during the club’s pre-season schedule: “No, so we have spoken about this. It's more or less that the players who are here are the players that we work with. I have said so much about Liam and praised him so much so I think no more words needed. But right now we concentrate on the players who are around."
Derby, managed by former Rotherham United boss Paul Warne, sit 15th in the Championship after winning one and losing two of their opening three league games this term. They do not play Leeds until December 7 when the sides meet at Elland Road in a 12.30pm kick off. It is not long until the rivals face other again, with the sides clashing at Pride Park on December 29 at 7.45pm.