Leeds United have made shrewd player decision after success of Birmingham City agreement: View | OneFootball

Offering Cody Drameh a new deal, despite his lack of game time at Elland Road, is a good decision by Leeds United.

Highlights

Leeds United have already made some difficult decisions ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Before the retained list came out, there were questions over several players' futures. Luke Ayling, Lewis Bate and Ian Poveda have all been released, even though Ayling could be a good full-back option to have at this level and Poveda is a talented attacking option.

Liam Cooper and Jamie Shackleton, meanwhile, are in talks regarding their futures at Elland Road, with their deals expiring this summer.

Cooper and Shackleton could both be valuable squad options for Daniel Farke next season, especially the former who is a leader both on and off the pitch for the Whites, despite his lack of game time during the 2023/24 campaign.

But whether the pair put pen to paper on new deals remains to be seen.

Leeds United take decision on Cody Drameh

Drameh has appeared at a senior level for Leeds before, but he has never been able to establish himself as a vital first-teamer at Elland Road.

He could have become a more important player for the Whites following their relegation last year, but Archie Gray spent last season at full-back, whilst Drameh was on loan at Birmingham City.

Despite Gray's success and the fact he was temporarily offloaded to Blues, Leeds have taken the decision to offer Drameh a new deal.

The financial details and length of this deal offered remain undisclosed, but the fact he has been offered a new deal indicates that Farke may see the player as part of his plans for next season and beyond.

Whether the player wants to be part of Farke's plans remains to be seen though, having been loaned out three times in less than three years.

Leeds United made the right decision to offer Cody Drameh a new contract

The worst thing Leeds could have done regarding Drameh was not offering him a new deal.

That would have allowed a club to recruit him without needing to pay a compensation fee, a fee that the Whites are entitled to after offering the player a new deal, with the full-back under the age of 24.

It could be argued that it was a mistake to let Drameh's contract run down to its final weeks, but Leeds are guaranteed to be paid a compensation fee and that's a consolation if the 22-year-old does depart.

Considering the potential he has, losing him for free would have been extremely painful, but Leeds' actions have prevented that and his potential departure could contribute towards Farke's transfer budget for the summer.

The Championship club may only have a very limited budget this summer, with players even needing to be sold to balance the books, so any revenue they can generate from departures could make a difference when they look to recruit new signings.

But if the player does stay, he could be a valuable first-team option.

With Ayling and former loanee Connor Roberts leaving and Gray potentially needed in midfield if they find themselves short of depth there, Drameh could be a valuable first-teamer to have.

The latter has plenty of second-tier experience under his belt, so he could be an extremely useful option and could prevent the Whites from needing to spend millions on a replacement.

He could be a long-term option too, considering he's only 22, so it would benefit Leeds to keep hold of the player and use him more next season.

Already winning promotion from this level with Luton Town, he knows what it takes to get out of this division and that could make him an especially useful option to have at Elland Road during the 2024/25 campaign.

He also did well enough at Birmingham last season to justify a place in Leeds' first team for next season, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him used frequently if he stays in West Yorkshire.

Drameh may have been relegated with Blues, but he stood out as one of their better players and he was unlucky not to have won more game time.

Proving to be a valuable player in the final third in the Midlands, it wouldn't be a surprise if his attacking contributions persuaded Leeds to offer him fresh terms.

It wouldn't have been a surprise if the full-back had endured a nightmare spell at St Andrew's considering the managerial turnover there last season.