Top-flight transfer interest reports are news to Leeds United after unlikely star's stock rises
Spanish reports of Real Betis interest in Junior Firpo came as news to Leeds United but have also proved how much the left-back's stock has risen.
The Whites' response to a story about a possible reunion between Firpo and Los Verdiblancos, who have already bought Marc Roca and Diego Llorente from Elland Road this summer, was one of similar bemusement to when Marseille were said to be considering a move for Illan Meslier. That is not to say that Real Betis would not be keen on Firpo, because his popularity there is understandable and his merits as an attacking full-back are obvious, and though transfer season is a time when smoke can come without fire, it comes from somewhere. Someone, somewhere is suggesting that this reunion could be on the cards.
Had this suggestion come last summer, or the summer before that, then Leeds fans might have shrugged, as they did when Roca went, or when Llorente went, and as they will if or when Rasmus Kristensen goes. On that front, Leeds maintain that the Dane is due back in pre-season later in the week and a decision on his future will be made then but if this Eintracht Frankfurt admiration turns into a move then few, if any, in West Yorkshire will be saddened.
The same can not be said, though, of the man who actually stayed last summer. Whatever Firpo's motivation, even if it was for a lack of options elsewhere, he remained and did enough to rewrite a little of his Leeds United story. He did enough to suggest that his attacking capabilities, as pronounced as they were in the second tier, would be difficult, or certainly expensive, for the Whites to replace. His seven assists, all of which came in the second half of the season, marked him out as a special player in opposition territory. Overlapping runs to the byline and cut-backs gave Leeds a potent threat on the left-hand side and a perfect foil for Crysencio Summerville's trademark cut-inside-and-shoot move. Firpo helped make Leeds less predictable on that flank of the pitch, so his defensive frailties, which were less pronounced in the second tier, were not the story of his season or even much of a consideration at all. So the idea of losing him is, all of a sudden, a concerning one for Whites. Not to mention that losing another part of last season's team, factoring in the potential for Summerville and Willy Gnonto still to depart, would take away considerably from the idea of continuity being an important theme for Leeds this summer. Replacing Archie Gray and Glen Kamara is tweaking a side. Replacing three or four or even five of a starting XI is practically a rebuild.
What Leeds' reaction to those reports tell us is that Firpo has not come to them with a transfer request, not yet anyway, and Real Betis have not fired any warning shots across the bows of Elland Road. A left-back tandem of Firpo and Sam Byram is more than good enough, in the technical sense, for Leeds in the Championship. A promoted Leeds, in 2025, would need more because of the technical and physical demands put on full-backs by some of the best wingers in the world, but that's a conversation for another day.
Firpo is out of contract next summer. A cynical mind might draw a line between that fact and the emergence of an attractive top-flight option elsewhere for the defender. It wouldn't take a great deal of cynicism to believe that a player's representatives were actively on the hunt for attractive top-flight options and long-term certainty for a player coming into the final year of his current deal. A last chance for Leeds to cash in on a player for whom they overpaid in the Premier League, yes, but if that player assists in the winning of promotion and the riches that come with it, then the equation should be a simple one for the Elland Road decision makers.