Joe Donnohue moots 'unlikely' Leeds United free agent option amid Cheikhou Kouyaté uncertainty

Christoph Kramer is unlikely to reunite with former manager Daniel Farke at Leeds United despite the immediate need for midfield reinforcements, according to the YEP’s Joe Donnohue.

Leeds have been assessing possible free agent options after losing midfielders Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev to serious knee injuries within three days of each other. Former Nottingham Forest man Cheikhou Kouyaté has regularly been linked but reports over the weekend have been conflicting, with suggestions a deal was all but done thought to be wide of the mark.

Kouyaté boasts vast Premier League and international experience but faces a huge task in proving fit enough for Farke, having played just 208 minutes of top-flight football last season before leaving Forest in May. Another name to surface in recent weeks is Kramer, who worked under Farke at Borussia Monchengladbach, but a reunion in West Yorkshire is not currently on the cards.

“Looking at the list of free agents available, there’s not a great deal of them who you think could potentially come in,” Donnohue told the YEP’s Inside Elland Road podcast last week. “I spoke to people in Germany about Christoph Kramer, who obviously won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, played under Farke during the 2022/23 season at Borussia Monchengladbach but left this summer, mutually terminated his contract after it became obvious he wasn't going to play. 

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“He’s had his injury issues. As far as I’m aware, I've been told he hasn’t been involved in a professional setting since leaving his Monchengladbach contract and his preference is supposedly to remain in Germany. He's got punditry work where apparently he’s made a good impression.

“He’s 33-years-old. Ultimately, how much of an impact would he have if he were persuaded to come and join Daniel Farke? People I spoke to in Germany certainly can't see it happening, or it being a likely one. You never rule things out in football but it's not one I think is likely.”

Kouyaté latest

Should Leeds move for a free agent arrival, then Kouyaté looks the most likely as things stand despite conflicting reports. The YEP understands he is among a small group of options being considered but claims he was at Thorp Arch training last week were wide of the mark.

Reports of a deal being all but agreed on Friday are also thought to have been premature, with no clear picture as to how far discussions surrounding Kouyaté actually are. What is certain is that Farke will not sanction any arrival he doesn’t believe can make an impact quickly, with fitness levels the likely deciding factor.

That Kouyaté hasn’t played regular football since the 2022/23 campaign will be a concern for Farke, who recently outlined his reservations when it came to signing players without a club at this point of the season. But that is also not to say the Senegal can’t prove fit enough to earn himself a contract.

Leeds host Championship promotion rivals Sheffield United on Friday evening and Farke is expected to start Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell in midfield, as he did at Sunderland before the international break. It remains to be seen how long that partnership will have to hold up before a possible arrival is fit enough to feature.