Why Leeds United will not recall 'outstanding' midfield prospect from Championship rival despite extreme circumstances

Leeds youngsters Darko Gyabi and Sam Greenwood are plying their trade for Plymouth Argyle and Preston North End this season, respectively, but will not be recalled to Elland Road imminently following serious injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.

Ampadu will be out until the New Year with a knee ligament injury but doesn't require surgery at this stage, however fellow deepl-lying midfielder Gruev is set to miss an extended period of 'months rather than weeks' following a meniscus repair procedure.

The pair's absence leaves Leeds with Japan international Ao Tanaka, season-long loanee Joe Rothwell and inexperienced teen Charlie Crew as Daniel Farke's remaining central midfield options for the foreseeable future.

Leeds will not recall Gyabi this month or next as clubs are not permitted to recall their loan players outside of the transfer window. In any event, Leeds would only be able to bring the 20-year-old midfielder back to Elland Road in January if a recall clause was inserted into his season-long loan agreement.

This year, Gyabi has played every game for Wayne Rooney's Pilgrims starting all but one of their ten outings in 2024/25 and is highly-regarded by the staff at Home Park.

"The second half last Saturday was outstanding, that's him and defines him as a player,” assistant coach Pete Shuttleworth said of Gyabi last month. “That's what we as coaches need to work with, to develop that to become the norm 90 minutes every week and he will become a top player in this league.

“He's quite an explosive player, he gets across the ground and he goes and bites into tackles, and if you are not quite there sometimes that can be quite evident with those types of players. I think now we are seeing Darko getting back to those early pre-season levels. Second half on Saturday he was excellent and that's where we need to build from."

Gyabi can play as a deeper midfield presence, or as a box-crashing No. 8, however with his long stride and physicality, perhaps offers something the current available midfield roster at Leeds does not, from a physical profile point-of-view.

"Darko wasn't on the market to be bought,” Argyle director of football Neil Dewsnip admitted in July. “Leeds didn't encourage that discussion. We did have a little nibble at that but it wasn't really on their agenda, but to get him back on loan was the next best thing we could do, and that's what we have achieved.”

At Deepdale, utility man Greenwood is on a season-long loan with Paul Heckingbottom's Preston and has previously played as a deeper midfielder, as well as a No. 8 whilst at Leeds. He, too, is in a similar position to Gyabi, playing regularly elsewhere and likely to be reluctant for an Elland Road return to carry out an understudy role as injury insurance as opposed to proving himself at a steady second tier club.