£500k Victor Orta flop must continue Leeds exile v Fulham, summer sale looks inevitable
COMMENT
Leeds United manager Paul Heckingbottom decided to completely axe Felix Wiedwald from his matchday squad for the 2-1 win against Bolton on Good Friday and the German shot-stopper's exile must continue against Fulham on Tuesday night.
Wiedwald, 28, was bought for £500,000 from Werder Bremen last summer and is just one of a number of flops that director of football Victor Orta has welcomed to Elland Road.
The goalkeeper was clearly supposed to be the new No 1 between the sticks but as Leeds' form took a nosedive, it became apparent that he was nowhere near the quality required to mount a serious bid for promotion, leading to first Thomas Christiansen axing him for a period of games before Heckingbottom did so again in early March.
Wiedwald had been on the bench for three games while Andy Longeran was injured with academy product Bailey Peacock-Farrell named in the starting line-up
However as soon as Lonergan was back to fitness, Heckingbottom axed Wiedwald completely from the matchday squad.
That must happen again against Fulham on Tuesday because it is now beginning to look inevitable that the ex-Werder Bremen goalkeeper will be sold off in the summer transfer window.
After a very poor year in England, it's hard to see how he could move back to the Bundesliga as a No 1 goalkeeper so his agent is going to have to work very hard to get him a decent move.
Either way, Wiedwald has no future at Leeds and Orta has to admit he got this one completely wrong and sign up a goalkeeper who at least has some command of his area and can instill confidence in defenders.
In other Leeds United news, Heckingbottom's shock revelation about this £4.5m Whites player proves why the club are nowhere near the play-offs.