"Has to stay" - Bullish claim made regarding Leeds United midfielder following series of summer exits | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit believes the club have to retain Ilia Gruev this summer, despite interest earlier in the window.

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ilia Gruev wasn't initially able to establish himself as a first-team player after joining Leeds United in the summer - until Daniel Farke put his faith in the Bulgarian at the start of 2024 and made him a key player.

For the most part, fellow summer signings Glen Kamara and Ethan Ampadu were running and dictating games in Leeds' double-pivot, but Gruev impressed when called upon following Pascal Struijk's injury.

It's no surprise in some ways, given the pedigree of the Bulgarian international, and the fact that the club spent a significant outlay on the midfielder when they paid £5 million to sign him from Werder Bremen.

German reporter Florian Plettenberg even revealed that the Championship side could pay up to £6 million in total for the player, when all incentives are met. Gruev had previously joined Werder all the way back in 2015 as a youth player.

Since the season ended, it has been revealed that Leeds rejected offers for Gruev from the Premier League already this summer. Not only that, but according to Sky Sports Germany, the midfielder is attracting a lot of interest following the end of the campaign and Leeds' failure to secure a place in the top-flight.

The verdict on Ilia Gruev's Leeds future

It has previously been reported that Leeds received offers for Gruev even prior to their clash against Southampton in late May. A number of Bundesliga clubs are also keeping tabs on the player, including Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.

Other reports have also claimed that the Whites could be open to a sale for the right price. However, they have set a £15 million price-tag on Gruev's head, according to reports by TEAMtalk. The issue is that Leeds have already sold Kamara and Archie Gray this summer, despite Joe Rothwell arriving in midfield, leaving them short of options.

That concern is shared by FLW’s Leeds United fan pundit Kris Smith, who said: "Back when the links to Dortmund cropped up at the start of June, only a week or so after we lost the play-off final, a lot of Leeds fans would have expected Gruev to leave.

"Given the magnitude of the club in question and the pull that comes with it, but that seems to have died down completely. Since then, we have lost Archie Gray and Glen Kamara to permanent sales. The last thing we want to do after that is to let another senior midfielder go.

"Going into next season, Gruev is in a bit of a tricky spot, given that he has virtually been an understudy in midfield to Ampadu. They're very similar players that sit deep and keep the ball ticking forward. "Ampadu has just been better, and that's no slight against Gruev, it's just about how good Ampadu has been. As last season also proved, though, injuries can pop up quite often. "That means that Ampadu might have to drop into the back four again, and Gruev will have to cover him. He'll have to be ready to take that chance, which he did last season. "As we come closer to August, I do think that Leeds need another midfielder to help with that cover and depth that we don't really have. Rather than just sticking with what we've got, or even entertaining bids for players like Gruev.

"He has to stay, really."

Leeds' issue with Gruev

The good news for many Leeds fans is that they are understood to want to keep Gruev, and he has a contract until the summer of 2027, thus they are well protected.

A defensive midfielder, Gruev is comfortable in possession and strong in the tackle, which Leeds have finally been seeing more of during the second half of the campaign last season, but he initially got off to a slow start.

Not only has he been a strong shield for the defence and committed out of possession, but the midfielder has combined that with superb vision and forward passes of the ball to keep Leeds ticking over.

He's too good to be a substitute, but cannot start in Leeds' best XI when everyone is fit. Players like Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk, and Ampadu help form the spine of the team, and should not be tampered with unless injury hits, where Gruev can then take his chance to impress once again.