'Pure emotions' - Anton Stach responds as Leeds United exit posts heartfelt goodbye message
Leeds United waved goodbye to a 2024 transfer that didn’t work out on Thursday.
Outgoing defender Isaac Schmidt admits the ‘pure emotion’ of Leeds United will always remain with him.
The full-back’s two-year stay at Elland Road came to an end on Thursday following confirmation of his transfer to BSC Young Boys on a four-year contract. The fee was officially undisclosed but the YEP understands Leeds received £2million, enough to ensure they didn’t lose any book value.
Schmidt made 14 appearances across all competitions during the 2024/25 Championship title-winning campaign, two of which were FA Cup starts. The 26-year-old’s 12 league games all came from the bench and last summer he joined Werder Bremen on loan, with the chance of Premier League minutes close to zero.
But as part of that title-winning team, Schmidt and his teammates were able to enjoy the incredible scenes that followed. The Swiss international was at Elland Road the day automatic promotion was secured and joined the rest of Farke’s squad for an incredible open-top bus parade through the city centre.
In a heartfelt post on Instagram, leading with a picture from that parade, Schmidt wrote: “Dear Leeds United, teammates and staff, I will never forget those moments of pure emotions we had together, great team spirit on and off the pitch, with our unbelievable fans. I wish you all the best for the future. You will always be remembered. MOT”.
Schmidt received plenty of nice messages in the comments section, including from what are now former teammates. Largie Ramazani wrote ‘Best of luck my brother’ while Willy Gnonto commented ‘My Guy’.
Summer 2025 arrival Anton Stach never played a competitive game at Leeds with Schmidt but the pair did feature together in pre-season. The German wrote ‘Good luck Brudi’ while Joel Piroe commented ‘Good luck brother’.
Illan Meslier and Mateo Joseph also commented on the post while Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Harry Gray were among those to like it. Schmidt will now join up with new club Young Boys for pre-season.
The full-back became Leeds’ fourth summer exit on Thursday, following free agent departures Karl Darlow and Meslier plus Pascal Struijk, who joined Brighton in a deal worth £20m. So far, one new arrival in Harry Wilson has been confirmed while centre-back Tarik Muharemovic is expected to follow.