Football writer Beren Cross has outlined his concerns over the current fitness of Leeds United defender Junior Firpo.
In the last round of Premier League fixtures, Marcelo Bielsa’s team battled to a 1-1 draw against Leicester City. The game was decided in a frantic few moments as Harvey Barnes equalised almost immediately after Raphinha had given his side the lead.
Absent from the action, however, was the Yorkshire side’s 25-year-old left-back. Indeed, Firpo has missed Leeds’ last four league matches.
Will Pascal Struijk become world class?
Yes
No
With the club providing no clear indication of what his current issue is – Bielsa has only said he will ‘assess’ the player – Cross speculated over Firpo’s fitness on a Leeds United Live Facebook stream.
He said: “He [Bielsa] hasn’t said this as such, but I can’t work out if Firpo hurt himself in that Friday night game [v Arsenal U23s] here, because he came off at half an hour, and obviously didn’t then go to Norwich.
“I think we all just assumed that it was because it was too close to Norwich, but then obviously missed today. And the inference is that there’s either a new problem or he had maybe a setback in that Friday game.”
TIF Thoughts on Junior Firpo and Leeds…
As mentioned in the quotes, Firpo did play against Arsenal’s youth team in Premier League 2 at the end of October, but hasn’t featured at any level since.
Since signing for the club from Barcelona over the past transfer window for around £13m, he has struggled at times to settle into Bielsa’s Leeds team. Fans even slated him for his performance in a match against Newcastle United earlier on in the season.
But with Firpo out injured, those same fans may well have been concerned to see Pascal Struijk end up at left-back against the Foxes.
In the end, the Dutchman did pretty well, with his manager even praising him for his versatility.
Despite the compliments for Struijk as an alternative option, the sooner there is clarity over the current fitness of Firpo, the better.
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