Phil Hay believes that Jesse Marsch has pretty much ruled out a new left-back arriving at Leeds United this summer.
It had been expected that Junior Firpo was going to be the man trusted by Marsch to play in the left-back position and be a crucial player in his system. However, a pre-season hamstring injury has seen that been put on the back-burner for now.
Therefore, Pascal Struijk has had to be deployed as a makeshift full-back this term, and while that is far from his best position, he appears to have coped relatively well considering the opposition Leeds have faced this season in the form of Chelsea and Wolves, having picked up six points and conceded one goal against those two sides.
While some fans may be waiting patiently for a new left-back to arrive, Hay claimed on The Phil Hay Show that he doesn’t believe that will be the case.
He said: “I mean, there’s nothing at all to suggest that they are going to do a left-back.
“Even when Marsch has spoken about that, he really has kind of ruled that out himself.”
Will Leeds regret not signing a left-back?
Yes!
No!
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ left-back situation…
It’s understandable if Marsch sees Firpo as the man who will best suit his system and wishes to put his trust in the defender, however, since arriving at Elland Road last summer, he’s hardly been someone that can remain fit and play 30 or more games a season.
Therefore, even bringing in someone on loan who is young or someone that may be at the other end of their career, could well be a smart move as Leeds don’t want to find themselves in a situation like last season where they have a major injury crisis.
Of course, Leeds have Stuart Dallas, but it remains to be seen what kind of player he will come back as after his lengthy time on the sidelines and when he will even be ready to play first-team football in the Premier League, so they shouldn’t be relying on Dallas to provide competition and cover at left-back.