European club chief provides fresh update on Leeds United January exit links with 'hot commodity' admission
The Leeds United man has been linked with a return to a former club in recent weeks.
Red Bull Salzburg managing director for sport Rouven Schroder has poured cold water on a January move for Max Wober, suggesting the Leeds United defender would prove too expensive for his side.
Wober has been linked with a return to the Austrian outfit in recent weeks, with Schroder himself commenting on the 26-year-old. The Salzburg chief labelled Leeds’ man and Feyenoord's Gernot Trauner as ‘two very good players‘ before explaining how he and his team will ‘examine transfers carefully.’
Those comments have fuelled further speculation as to whether Salzburg could make a move for Wober next month, with newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten even claiming ‘only details need to be finalised’ as a move edged closer. But Schroder has spoken publicly on those links again over the weekend, appearing to try and calm the rumours.
"Wober is one of three central defenders at Leeds and they have maximum ambitions to get into the Premier League. It will be difficult to put the money on the table," Schroder told Austrian outlet Laola1. "[He is] not a hot commodity at the moment. It has nothing to do with the player, he's top. We may have to take a more modest approach and make a clever loan transfer."
Initial speculation surrounding Wober came at a time when he was not particularly involved at Leeds, with no clear path into the first-team picture amid the excellent form of his two main competitors, Pascal Struijk and Junior Firpo. However, the latter suffered a serious hamstring injury earlier this month and will not return until the New Year, opening up an opportunity.
Wober replaced Firpo against Derby County and scored his side’s second goal on the day, pushing into a good attacking position before sweeping home from close range. He would then complete 90 minutes for the first-time at club-level all season during last week’s 3-1 defeat of Middlesbrough.
The Austrian international enjoyed a good night under the lights at Elland Road despite scoring an unfortunate own-goal, showing his defensive quality in managing the exciting Ben Doak. Reflecting on his goal against Derby and his return to Elland Road earlier this month, Wober said: "It was a really good feeling. A lot of relief. Struggling a lot this season, and now finally getting some minutes, and then scoring feels amazing."
The Austrian international was benched for Saturday’s trip to Preston after reporting some swelling around the knee, but is expected to be first-choice left-back in Firpo’s absence. Manager Daniel Farke allayed fears of any serious issue in his pre-game press conference and has spoken highly of Wober’s desire to improve going forward.
“I think [the performance vs Derby was important for Wober], last season was not the easiest for him away on loan,” Farke admitted recently. “The start of the season was more or less injury after injury. Today a cold start, I think he was a bit nervous without a warm up but I think he was excellent. He was greedy to do the run and if you do the run sometimes you're rewarded and you can celebrate. I liked his attitude. Good that he came through this 70 minutes and it will give him a big boost and for his confidence.”