Free agent in 'talks' with surprise new club following end of Leeds United contract

Liam Cooper is in ‘talks’ with CSKA Sofia following his exit from Leeds United, according to a report by Football Insider. The centre-back officially became a free agent in late June and has since been weighing up his options in the game.

He was linked with a move back to Hull City last week and was expected to complete a deal in time to be available for selection against Leeds at Elland Road. However, the deal fell through in the end which has opened the door for other teams to swoop in now.

Cooper, who is 33-years-old, is now wanted by CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria and they could offer him the chance to play abroad for the first time in his career. They finished third in the table last season and have won the title on 31 occasions in the past.

The First Professional Football League outfit have already delved into the English market to sign winger Jason Lokilo from Hull this summer. They could now try and sign themselves a new defender to freshen up their ranks.

Cooper joined Leeds in 2014 and has spent the past 10 years at Elland Road. He was a great servant to the Yorkshire outfit and made 284 appearances in all competitions, 19 of which came in the last campaign, and chipped in with 11 goals from the back.

He helped the Whites gain promotion to the Premier League back in 2020 under popular former boss Marcelo Bielsa. They then stayed in the top flight for three years before slipping back into the Championship. Cooper was part of the Leeds’ team who reached the play-off final last season under Daniel Farke. They were beaten at Wembley by Southampton though.

He started his career at Hull and rose up through the academy ranks of his local team. He was a regular for the Tigers at various different youth levels before going on to play 17 times for their first-team as a teenager, as well as having loan spells away from East Yorkshire at Carlisle United and Huddersfield Town to get some experience under his belt.

Chesterfield came calling in 2012 and he was given given the green light to leave on a permanent basis. He got regular game time under his belt during his time with the Spireites before Leeds came calling.

He said at the time: “I was gutted at the time. I’d been with Hull since I was 11 but leaving when I did made me a better person and a better player. I've no regrets. I did everything I could to try and stay with Hull. Even when I thought it was coming to an end, I was still training hard hoping that something would change.

“I saw it right from the start of pre-season. Steve [Bruce] was the manager and he brought Alex [Bruce] in. We were the same position and it’s just one of those things. I could see it coming.”

Despite being born in Hull, Cooper said in an interview in 2019: “It’s such a massive club. Growing up where I did, you supported either Hull or Leeds, I chose to support Leeds.”