Leeds midfielder Lewis Baker has had his deal with the club terminated and he has left Elland Road, according to Phil Hay.
A report from Football Insider had claimed that Baker, on loan from Chelsea, would be leaving within 24 hours yesterday and it appears that their information was spot on.
Hay added that Baker is expected to be loaned out quickly to another Championship club.
Lewis Baker has gone back to Chelsea. Deal at Leeds is over. Expectation is that he’ll be loaned out quickly to another Championship club. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) January 9, 2019
OPINION
This was expected and it won’t be a big loss to Leeds. Baker has flopped after arriving with high expectations, and only started two Championship games. He was hooked off at half-time in both of those games, which shows the lack of impact he’s had at Elland Road. It’s disappointing and it will have been Chelsea’s decision so it doesn’t necessarily indicate that new players will be coming in. Baker might not have been a regular first-team starter but his loss will have an impact on the Leeds squad and makes it even more imperative that new faces are brought in. Hay, on the Inside Elland Road podcast, said that he thinks the club will bring in a maximum of three players and said he’s in the camp that believes recruitment is necessary to continue the charge for automatic promotion. We think a winger, an attacking midfielder and a goalkeeper should see Leeds through to the end of the season, bu Baker’s departure comes on top of Samu Saiz leaving. The squad was paper-thin at times in the first-half of the season. The same number of injuries in the second-half would see the current crop of players stretched to breaking point. The worry for Leeds is that no business has been done yet.