Monk does not want this Leeds midfielder at the club next season – report
By Alex Stevens
Garry Monk wants to bomb Toumani Diagouraga out of Leeds permanently next season, according to a report.
The Yorkshire Evening Post claim the midfield enforcer was told back in August that “he had no role in the plans” of manager Monk, who took over in the dugout last summer.
It is said that Diagouraga will assess his options in the summer after completing a loan spell at Leeds’ Championship rivals Ipswich.
The Yorkshire giants announced on their official website and Twitter account on Monday that Diagouraga would had secured a move to Portman Road for the remainder of the season.
The Yorkshire Evening Post report that there is no option for Ipswich to buy Diagouraga permanently as part of the deal, although that has not been officially confirmed by either of the two second-tier clubs.
Nevertheless, it appears that the central midfielder has played his last game for Leeds, which was in their opening-day 3-0 defeat to QPR in early August, even though his contract runs until the summer of 2018.
With Monk’s taking such a firm stance and promoting a series of midfielders ahead of the 29-year-old, there is surely no way back for him now.
Liam Bridcutt, Eunan O’Kane, Ronaldo Vieira, Kalvin Phillips and Matt Grimes are ahead of Diagouraga in the pecking order, while attacking midfield trio Alex Mowatt, Pablo Hernandez and Kemar Roofe are also more likely to be used in that position.
Diagouraga was signed from Championship club Brentford for £575,000 by ex-Elland Road boss Steve Evans precisely on year ago.
The 29-year-old midfielder has moved to Portman Road exactly a year to the day since he signed for Leeds from another Championship club, Brentford, on a two-and-a-half year contract.
Football Insider verdict:
Whatever happens at Ipswich in the remainder of the season, Diagouraga has no option but to find pastures new in the summer. The midfielder has not so much been given the cold shoulder by Monk, as sent to the ice chamber with no food or water for months. He obviously calculated that another five months on the sidelines with his nose pressed against the window was a bleak prospect. He has moved on temporarily, but must make a permanent switch away from Elland Road in the summer if, as seems likely, Monk remains at the helm.
In other Leeds news, Monk has made a shock transfer revelation after meeting with new owner Andrea Radrizzani.
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