According to Daniel Farke in the aftermath of the friendly match between Leeds United and Hearts, both Patrick Bamford and Georginio Rutter are injured and unlikely to miss the Championship opener against Cardiff City. The German said, “It’s not like an ACL or something like this where you’re a month out so we hope that’s not too long”. He also discussed how this could affect the club’s plans in the market.
Leeds United Injuries See Two Stars Potentially Miss Season Opener
Patrick Bamford’s Woes Continue
A couple of seasons ago, Whites fans were incredibly happy with Patrick Bamford. He’d come off a full Premier League football season in which he’d fired the club to ninth place in the division, scoring almost twenty goals himself. Those days now seem to be gone, with injury after injury plaguing the centre forward and preventing him from getting a good run of matches together.
Leeds United’s manager mentioned that it was Bamford’s hamstring that had let him down against Hearts following a high-intensity sprint. After missing 35 out of 76 matches in the past two seasons due to injury, he isn’t out of trouble yet. Calls for a replacement striker are sure to only intensify after this bad news.
Watch: Are Leeds United Ready for the Season Yet?
Georginio Rutter’s Issues
Whilst Elland Road’s record signing isn’t known for having serious issues with his fitness (having missed only two matches in his career through injury), this one seems to have come at the worst possible time. The Frenchman was working incredibly well in Farke’s attacking line, functioning as a hybrid between a nine and a ten and successfully creating chance after chance for those around him. An injury could put paid to that optimism.
Adding to the increasingly common trend of key Whites players getting hurt at important points of the season, Rutter is suffering from an issue in his “core muscles”. In his post-match interview the club’s manager stated that “after movement, we hope it’s not too bad”, so ideally the versatile forward can push his way back into Farke’s lineup for the opener.
Read More: Leeds United in Two-Horse Race to Sign Joel Piroe
What Leeds United Injuries Mean for Transfer Strategy
As is far too common at Elland Road, it looks likely that any Leeds United transfer news could come as a result of major Leeds United injuries. Fans were already screaming out for a new centre-forward, and the loss of Rodrigo to a club in Qatar means that the club was weakened even further at striker. Current options, if the two injuries are serious, include Joe Gelhardt and youth options Mateo Joseph or Sonny Perkins. Although the Peacocks have signed a new striker in the window, that was sixteen-year-old Lewis Pirie from Aberdeen.
When pressed on the matter of signing a new player for the position, Farke stated that “I don’t think it will affect our transfer plans anyhow because I don’t think it’s unbelievable long-term injuries”. Whilst this is good news in terms of the injuries, fans may be concerned that it implies no signings at all in that area.
Image courtesy of Joe Blackburn, licensed to Last Word on Sports.
