Leeds United Have Signed An Incredible Star Player For…
Leeds have work to do in the January window, with Daniel Farke’s back four depth looking somewhat short right now as Ethan Ampadu steps in at the start of 2024. Both full-back positions needed more coming into this week and beyond, but centre-back is another position too to look at after Charlie Cresswell’s recent omission. mentality in the face of limited playing time in the Championship this season – claiming that the England U21 international won’t be playing until he is “mentally ready”.
Following on from that, The Athletic’s Phil Hay shared on The Square Ball podcast that the defender could be set to leave the club after his public admission from the manager, as he said: “I’ll be really surprised if they don’t, and given the situation that Cresswell’s in I see no alternative but to find another centre-back, or to find, whether it’s a full-back that can play at centre-back, something that covers that gap. “Farke is adamant on having four centre-backs in the squad so if Cresswell isn’t involved that leaves room for another one, and at right-back it was never the plan this month for both Spence and Ayling to go.”
Cresswell leaving wouldn’t be a shock, and he would need replacing. Looking at Farke’s connections and past work, it seems as though he’s happy to reunite with his former players at Norwich – see Sam Byram, and almost Max Aarons. So, Nottingham Forest centre-back Andrew Omobamidele, formerly of Norwich, sticks out as a fairly logical move for Leeds, given Farke’s fondness of him in the past, having handed him his debut at the Canaries and declaring him “outstanding” in the process.
The Republic of Ireland international moved to the City Ground from Norwich on deadline day in the summer for £20million, but has yet to kick a ball for the Reds – perhaps contributing quite significantly to their breach of Profit and Sustainability rules recently. At 21, he will be wanting to leave a club where his career is going to stagnate, and where better to move to than to the club where the manager already loves him? A loan is the only way we’re going to be able to finance Omobamidele, if he’s pursued, but an option-to-buy would be easy to negotiate with a club that are sure to balance their books soon.
