Leeds on alert as promotional rival signs former Brentford and Bournemouth standout to bolster attack
Leeds United’s midfield has been hit hard by injuries, with Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev sidelined. Although it seems the Whites aren’t going the free-agent route, one promotional rival is.
With injuries devasting the Yorkshire side’s midfield, questions emerged over whether they’ll sign a free agent to bolster their depth. Nonetheless, a recent report reveals that one veteran is already ruled out.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are not expected to sign former Germany international and 2014 FIFA World Cup winner Christoph Kramer despite injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Illya Gruev.
The report states that any attempt by Leeds to bring in the 33-year-old on a short-term deal is likely to be declined, as Kramer prefers to remain in Germany, where he has been working as a television pundit after spending a decade at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Recently, Farke expressed his view on pursuing a free agent at this stage amid Leeds’ midfield injury crisis and the position’s depth being thin.
“If I’m really honest, I’m not a big friend of signing players who are out of contract in the beginning of October, because it means they are out of team training since May, that means out of team training [for] five months,” Farke said.
Norwich City strengthened their forward group
While Leeds appear to be standing pat and probably waiting until the January window opens, Norwich City, who are one point behind Leeds, announced on Saturday the arrival of Danish attacking midfielder Emiliano Marcondes.
The 29-year-old has experience playing in England for clubs like Brentford and Bournemouth, so the Canaries hope this experience will give them the extra push to bypass clubs like Leeds.
“We’re delighted to welcome Emi to Norwich City,” sporting director Ben Knapper said. “We feel he can really help support us in what we are building here. He has great quality, can play in multiple positions, and he brings some fantastic experience at this level having been promoted from the Championship on two previous occasions.
“He has also worked with Johannes before, so he understands exactly how we want to play, and he will really add to the competition and options that we have available in our squad.”
