Leeds United have been handed yet another update on their potential deal to sign Cheikhou Kouyate as they look to hand Daniel Farke reinforcements amid an injury crisis.
Leeds United injury updates and team news
Leeds have been dealt a tough hand in midfield after picking up a pair of serious injuries in successive Championship games, something that threatens to derail their early promotion push.
Ethan Ampadu was forced off in the first half of Leeds’ win over Coventry City with a knee injury, and Ilia Gruev suffered a similar problem three days later in a draw with Norwich City, leaving the Yorkshire side down to bare bones in the centre of the park.
Farke doesn’t expect Ampadu to return until the end of 2024: “It’s a serious knee injury, he’s damaged his lateral ligament. The doctors have recommended conservative treatment so doesn’t need surgery, but it’s difficult to predict how long he’ll be out. Ten weeks until he’s back in team training.”
Gruev is likely to be similar and will also require “an extended period of rehabilitation”. It means that for their upcoming Championship clash with Sheffield United on Friday, Farke’s options as things stand are loanee midfielder Joe Rothwell, untested youngster Charlie Crew and summer signing Ao Tanaka, who completed 90 minutes for Japan on Tuesday lunchtime.
Though the Elland Road boss is against signing free agents, he admitted that an exception may have to be made on this occasion: “On the midfielder position, after the horrendous news with Ilia Gruev, my attitude [is] I actually don’t like October signings of free agents. I don’t believe in it, but when the times are strange, you have to think about it.”
That is precisely what Leeds have been trying to do in the shape of ex-Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, but now they have been dealt another damaging blow in their pursuit of the Senegalese veteran.
Leeds staff tell club to pull plug on free agent transfer
That comes as Football Insider, who yesterday reported that the free agent was undergoing a medical at Thorp Arch, now claim that the 34-year-old has failed that medical and a deal is now off.
Cheikhou Kouyate’s senior career to date
Club/Nation
Appearances (all comps)
Senegal
92
Nottingham Forest
36
Crystal Palace
141
West Ham United
147
Anderlecht
206
Journalist Pete O’Rourke claims that the midfielder “did not get the all-clear from the club’s staff”, something that has meant Leeds have “pulled the plug on a potential deal”, which perhaps supports Farke’s theory that free agents are not always fit enough to be worth signing.
The Yorkshire side will keep looking for options to reinforce their side though, with Farke reportedly keen to “bolster his squad before the January transfer window opens” in two and a half months’ time.
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Whether they will be able to find someone of Kouyate’s vast experience remains to be seen, with the midfielder having racked up over 300 Premier League appearances and over 90 international caps.
Leeds are currently fifth in the Championship ahead of the return to domestic football after the international break, and will be hoping that their good early season form can continue despite the issues that they face in midfield as they look to go one better than last season’s play-off heartbreak.