SHOCKED NEWS:The skillful player has sustained injury today when playing with…
Struijk is an important player, and his presence has been missed. However, there are two big positives that Leeds United fans can take from his ongoing injury.
The first is an ongoing benefit; Ethan Ampadu slotting in as a centre-back. He has taken to this switch like the proverbial duck to water. Solid as a defensive midfielder, Leeds fans are seeing this solidity at the centre of a watertight backline.
Of course, playing alongside Joe Rodon is helping. Yet, playing here is also having benefits when it comes to his distribution. Ampadu helps to get Leeds United on the front foot with raking balls from the back.
The second benefit is that it can help to promote Charlie Cresswell up the pecking order at Elland Road. After clashing with Farke over his role at the club, he came on for the last 10-or-so minutes in the 3-0 win against Rotherham United last time out.
Needless to say, once Struijk is fully fit, he will likely resume his natural position alongside Joe Rodon. In the meantime, it is not all doom and gloom whilst he remains out injured. Farke has ample cover in place and with such strong form of late, Leeds United have not been weakened despite the absence of one of their star players.
Read More
Leeds find themselves in a tail-splin, and one former Leeds United star could be one of the first to pay the price. Barca have put together a disappointing season so far, currently sat in third place, 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid.
The Catalan giants drew 3-3 with Granada over the weekend, continuing to struggle their way through the season, and the club’s chiefs already know they need a new head coach this summer, with Hernandez already announcing his exit ahead of the summer, feeling as though he has taken the team as far as they can go.
But hiring a new head coach is not easy, even for one of the biggest clubs in the world, and Barca know they need to promise their next head coach some sort of budget to get him through the door. As part of that, Barca – who are still in a financial bind, still funding their Camp Nou overall and cleaning up the mess of previous regimes – are said to be considering a series of sales.
It’s claimed Jules Koundé, Andreas Christensen and former Leeds man Raphinha are seen as sellable assets. That’s according to Marca, who believe any or all three of those players could be shipped out this summer.
Raphinha was sold to Barcelona two and a half years ago, with Leeds pocketing around £55million from the deal. The winger attracted plenty of interest ahead of sealing his move, with Arsenal and Chelsea attempting to seal a deal before Barca entered the race. It will be interesting to see of the Brazilian attracts that kind of interest again this summer if indeed he is made available.
