Junior Firpo may have played his last Leeds United game after latest development – pundit
Kevin Phillips has suggested Junior Firpo may have played his last game for Leeds United after he suffered a serious knee injury.
The 2000 European Golden Shoe winner, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the 25-year-old’s Elland Road move has “not worked at all”.
Firpo left the field on a stretcher as Leeds United fell 3-0 at home against Aston Villa on Thursday (10 March).
Speaking post-match and quoted by Leeds Live, manager Jesse Marsch claimed the defender will be “out for a while” with a suspected medial collateral ligament injury.
The left-back, who has made 15 Premier League starts this term, has failed to impress since making a summer move from Barcelona last year (2021).
Phillips suggested Leeds United won’t “mess about” in acquiring an upgrade on the 25-year-old this summer.
“It looks like he’s picked up a really bad injury there, first of all,” he told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury.
“But it’s just really not worked for him in a Leeds shirt at all.
“I don’t think they have time to mess about in the transfer window now. They can’t stand by and wait for him to reach the required level; they need him to be ready now.
“If they were to drop down to the Championship that could be a more suitable league for him to find his feet in, but that obviously isn’t the ideal scenario for them.
“Hopefully he can make a speedy recovery but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not around next season.”
Firpo joined Leeds United in July 2021 for a reported fee of £12.8million.
The Whites sit four points clear of relegation danger following yesterday’s (13 March) 2-1 win over Norwich.
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