Leeds United's next deals already need striking to avoid missing out on millions

-Credit: (Image: Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
-Credit: (Image: Ed Sykes/Getty Images)


Transfer windows come and go, but the work never stops for Leeds United’s hierarchy. Nick Hammond and Gretar Steinsson may no longer be hounding counterparts and agents to bring players to Elland Road, but they do need to ensure the club’s own house is in order.

Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton were three of the players who saw their contracts expire this summer. If there aren’t transfers to bring in, there are contracts which need looking at. It never stops.

The closure of this most recent window allows the boardroom and Farke to look again at which futures are uncertain. There are two players with contracts expiring next summer and in very real jeopardy of leaving for free at the end of this season.

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What’s even more pressing is the fact Junior Firpo and Sam Byram can sign a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs from January 1 unless they sign new deals before then. Byram was in this situation 12 months ago, but made enough appearances to trigger a one-year extension.

It is unclear if such a clause remains in place this time around, but Leeds may feel confident allowing Byram’s deal to run into 2025. Given he was signed as a free agent, he required less of an investment from the club and so there is no fee to protect, as it were.

Byram’s age and injury record might also deter too many clubs from sniffing around until much later in the season. Foreign clubs may well be able to discuss terms with Byram from January 1, but given his career has been spent in England and he has a young family, the full-back may not want to move abroad.

Firpo is a very different situation. The left-back arrived for a fee between £10m and £15m, which is a sizeable investment that, realistically, should not be allowed to fritter into a free exit. If Leeds do not see a future with Firpo, it would make sound business sense to secure a fee for him, of some kind.

Firpo has also only just turned 28 too. Whether you rate him or not, he is in his prime right now and other clubs will be alive to the chance of taking in a, at his best, former Barcelona defender, at that age, for free.

Unlike Byram, Firpo has played in more than one country and is unlikely to have any major concerns about returning to Spain or playing on the continent in the future. That will mean, whether Firpo wants to talk to other clubs or not, the offers will surely start to come at the turn of the year.

Firpo’s defensive fragility was sorely exposed in the Premier League with United, but, in the Championship, his attacking swagger has flourished under Daniel Farke. The manager evidently likes and rates the Dominican at this level and he has become a key voice in this young dressing room.

If United achieve their aim and win promotion this season, are Byram or Firpo players Farke would be able to trust in the top flight? Are they players the manager would want to reward with new deals if he doubts their suitability in the Premier League?

These are the conversations and strategies Steinsson, Angus Kinnear and Farke will need to be formulating now. If they dither for too long they could be left with two players walking out the door for free in less than 12 months’ time.