Leeds United, the pride of England only a couple of decades back, were thought to have shaken off their years of failure and fighting for a Premier League promotion following last season’s dream run that almost earned them a Championship playoff place under Garry Monk. The former Swansea City legend, however, decided not to continue and stepped down in order to join league rivals Middlesbrough and the Peacocks appointed Thomas Christiansen as his successor.
Despite a successful inception, Leeds kept on performing poorly of late that cost Christiansen his job. Things, however, have not altered much under new boss Paul Heckingbottom and the owner Andrea Radrizzani has now slammed the players due to their lack of commitment, particularly after the blatant surrender against Middlesbrough a couple of weeks back.
The Whites have lost talismanic Chris Wood to Burnley but brought in Pierre-Michel Lasogga as his alternative. They kept hold of the majority of key players otherwise who had a scintillating season last year defying the odds.
However, a few new signings, as well as experienced names, have been quite substandard throughout the campaign and should be blamed for Leeds’ eventual slip to the current 13th spot from the top of the league. A mass exodus might happen in summer and some players should be trimmed off due to their dismal display for the pride of West Yorkshire.
Below are the three players who should be offloaded for underperformance and lack of efforts to succeed at this prestigious football club.
Felix Wiedwald
The former German youth international was thought to be a smart transfer business due to his previous Bundesliga experience with Werder Bremen. The 27-year-old custodian had a sparkling start but a series of erroneous outings cost him his place. Wiedwald was replaced by veteran Andy Lonergan who was not an upgrade either and Leeds were forced to rely on the German once more in later weeks. But his costly errors did not stop impacting the outcomes and new boss Heckingbottom seems to have given up on the highly-rated summer signing who has now been benched yet again and got replaced by academy prodigy Bailey Peacock-Farrell in their last couple of games. Wiedwald’s days are numbered in England as it seems and the Whites need to reinvest once more to sort out their goalkeeper conundrum.
Caleb Ekuban
The former Chievo Verona youngster had a promising loan spell at Albanian Superliga side Partizani Tirana last season and earned a switch to Leeds United last summer to continue the same in the second tier of English football. The forward, however, suffered a few injury setbacks and has not utilized the opportunities he is having at Elland Road. Ekuban is 23 only and has ample time to improve as a ‘number 9’, but the effort he has shown so far is not convincing enough to flourish here in English soil. The striker has not found the net yet in the league and might be transferred out prior to the next campaign.
Eunan O’Kane
The 27-year-old Northern Irishman holds Premier League experience with AFC Bournemouth and had a decent 2016-17 campaign in the middle of the park alongside Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira – two promising youngsters of the Leeds United side. But his performance has not been the same this term and lack of intent has been observed in recent weeks. The Whites have been forced to sign in Adam Forshaw from Middlesbrough to strengthen the midfield and O’Kane, who was tipped to lead the midfield game, has rarely matched the standards demanded from him. He will be shown the door anytime soon unless he steps up and performs his level best to make Leeds a promotion contenders once more from the next season onwards.
