Leeds United: Daniel Farke's Ilia Gruev injury update amid clear free agent stance | OneFootball

Daniel Farke has shed further light on the situation regarding Leeds United's midfielders.

Daniel Farke has provided an update on Ilia Gruev's situation following the 2-2 draw with Sunderland and shed further light on the possibility of Leeds United looking at signing free agents.

The Whites have hit a midfield crisis following long-term injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Gruev in back-to-back fixtures this week. It is an extremely unfortunate occurrence to lose two specialist and experienced holding midfielders at the same time.

Ampadu and Gruev's issues seriously threaten Leeds' chances of success this season, as they face their promotion hopes derailing due to a lack of depth and options available to the German. Leeds' club captain and talisman was forced off just before half-time against Coventry City and was replaced by Ao Tanaka.

Farke has since confirmed that the knee injury that he sustained has ruled him out for around 10 weeks and that is return will be close to January. It's a huge blow for the remainder of the games in 2024, which has only been made worse following the news of Gruev's injury.

The Bulgarian hobbled out of the draw against Norwich City with a knee issue of his own, with the Yorkshire Evening Post reporting that after the required surgery to a significant injury to his meniscus, he is looking at months out of action, rather than weeks.

Daniel Farke's Ilia Gruev and free agent update

Ampadu's injury problem would have been a significant blow anyway, but for Leeds to lose his natural replacement in their squad at the same time is an unprecedented situation for the club. Gruev and Ampadu each played close to every minute during the second half of last season, and Leeds have very little depth to deal with two problems in the same area.

Not only has Gruev also required surgery, which he is set to have on Saturday, but Farke has since confirmed that he is expected to be out for longer than Ampadu. He revealed this following Leeds' 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, speaking post-match to Adam Pope of BBC Leeds.

They are stretched extremely thin and cannot afford any further issues, be that during the international break or in the next few fixtures. The current injury crisis threatens to undermine their season, and one answer could still be the free agent market.

Speaking during his pre-Sunderland press conference, Farke explained his thoughts on signing someone from the free agent market. He said: "I think it's one of our professional duties to be aware and also to check who is perhaps available and what we could do.

"If I'm really honest, I'm not a big friend of signing players who are out of contract in the beginning of October, because it means more or less they are out of team training since May. That means they are out of team training since, whatever, five months.

"And even if you bring them in, it lasts also a while until they are really ready to go and fully fit and really could play first-team football. and then quite often the player who is right now injured for the next few weeks, he's even even back in perhaps and ready to go earlier than the players who are out for since five months.

"I think quite often it's a bit like a panic buy or like to pretend to do something anyhow. I think it's professional to check it, and sometimes out of coincidence or out of a special situation, there could be someone out who really suits the needs in this moment."

His stance may need to change on that since the latest news has emerged regarding Gruev, and there are genuinely good players who can impact Leeds' first-team squad who are available in the market. He added to his comments with the latest via Adam Pope:

Leeds' options in midfield

Joe Rothwell took his place alongside Tanaka against Norwich and Sunderland, which is likely to be the main duo at the base of Leeds' midfield in the coming weeks and months. Nominally, both are box-to-box midfielders, but Tanaka has played plenty of his career as a holding midfielder and is likely to be Farke's go-to choice for now.

On paper, that midfield pair is still better in terms of quality than the majority of other Championship sides. However, players like Charlie Crew sometimes require a situation like this to get their big chance. He has already won his first senior cap for the Wales national team against Gibraltar before ever making a senior appearance for Leeds.

He has still yet to take to the field for the Whites but has made the bench on a number of occasions over the last few seasons. Crew may be required to be more than just a player who has sat amongst the unused substitutes seven times in all competitions already this season unless Farke's stance has shifted on bringing in a free agent.