Leeds must regret not signing Sheffield United star after new injury blow
Leeds United must be regretting not making a move to sign a Sheffield United star in the summer window following another injury to one of Daniel Farke’s senior midfield options.
Leeds won the Championship title at a canter last season, and they entered the summer window with a lot of optimism ahead of their return to the Premier League.
Daniel Farke looked to bolster his options across the pitch by delving into the transfer market, with the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha signed in attack, Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff brought into the midfield and James Justin and Jaka Bijol arriving as defensive reinforcements.
Midfield was a key area that needed addressing, especially with Josuha Guilavogui and Joe Rothwell both departing the club following promotion, and even though Stach and Longstaff have impressed so far, they are already looking thin on the ground.
Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu have already picked up injuries at the start of the campaign, and another fitness scare for a Whites midfielder could well be leaving the club regretting their decision not to delve into the market for a key Sheffield United man.
Leeds messed up with Gustavo Hamer now Ilia Gruev is also injured
Leeds have not started the new season too badly, with a win, draw and a loss each from their first three Premier League games to leave themselves in 12th during the first international break.
They have already suffered on the injury front, however, with Tanaka suffering an MCL injury against Arsenal on 23 August that looks set to rule him out for the foreseeable future, after fellow midfielder Ampadu picked up the exact same issue a week earlier against Everton.
Farke’s stubborn resistance to change his 4-3-3 formation saw new signings Longstaff and Stach line up next to Ilia Gruev in the middle of the park against Newcastle last time out, and he played well despite only being used as a rotation option in the second-tier previously.
Gruev has now seemingly also suffered an issue that could rule him out of the next few games, with Bulgaria boss Ilian Iliev admitting that he had “problems” which meant he could only feature for 45 minutes in their recent loss to Georgia.
Farke is now faced with an injury dilemma, but he would pretty simply have not had these issues if the club had completed a deal for Sheffield United’s Gustavo Hamer, who has been linked with a move on and off over the last 18 months.
Football Insider revealed last summer that Sheffield United had priced Leeds out of a move for Hamer after they had chased him throughout the window, and he remained a key man at Bramall Lane last term with 10 goals and eight assists in 44 league appearances.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 168 | 26 | 31 |
Leeds continued to be linked with Hamer this summer as he expected to leave the Blades, but he stayed put past the deadline, despite the Sheffield Star’s Danny Hall revealing at the end of the window that he was “hearing some chatter from (LUFC) end of a late, late move for Hamer.”
Leeds have clearly made a mistake in not snapping him up, especially as he would likely have been content to be rotated with Tanaka and Ampadu, and would have been a fantastic player to call upon amid their injury issues right now.
Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev have history of long-term injuries and Daniel Farke must be wary of that
Ampadu has suffered two serious knee injuries since joining Leeds in 2023, as he missed out for five months and 27 games last season with separate issues.
It is clear that he has the potential to keep being sidelined, with 17 games missed in 2017/18 and 16 games missed in 2018/19 through injury while he was at Chelsea, while he also had to sit out of 14 games in 2019/20 at RB Leipzig with back problems.
Gruev has experienced similar, after he was ruled out for over three months last season following knee surgery, and both of their respective injury worries should concern Farke going forward, with his players needing to be available all the time if the Whites are to battle well for survival this season.
If either player, or other midfielders, suffer more long-term setbacks in the months to come, then that could be another reason as to why Farke may regret not properly pursuing Hamer and making his signature a priority over the course of the summer window.