Leeds United’s first squad-related announcement since 49ers Enterprises’ breakthrough summed up where the club is at in this moment. The limbo the club finds itself in, between head coaches, recruitment chiefs and owners, is akin to where Adam Forshaw and Joel Robles find themselves currently.
In 17 days they will officially be free agents and out of contract on the open market. Leeds, though, have an interest in keeping them on board. There’s an invitation to return for pre-season training on the table, but no contract as yet.
In Forshaw’s case, a deal was already in place for the club to trigger a 12-month extension, but, evidently, the board were not comfortable with those terms. Understandably, the Whites are keeping their options as open as possible while they wait for the new owners to finalise their takeover and the ultimate appointment of a head coach.
The offer to return for training is a clear effort to avoid bridges being burned with either player, who were among the few to take any credit from Sam Allardyce’s last hurrah. In the meantime, there is a small risk being run.
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Ultimately, neither Robles nor Forshaw were cast-iron starters who could be relied upon throughout last season. These are not the players you would consider indispensable ahead of next season’s promotion tilt.
However, they do have their merits and could, at the very least, be seen as experienced, wise heads in a dressing room which is about to go through the wringer next season. Each of them will now be assessing their options.
They may well be very happy at Thorp Arch, Forshaw said as much last month, but can they wait around hoping Leeds come good on contract offers? How comfortable will they feel turning down offers further afield between now and the start of United’s pre-season programme?
They are in limbo and they need to tread carefully to ensure they are in the best place possible for their careers next season. How confident can they feel the next head coach is going to want them? Would they regret jumping at something else, with worse prospects, sooner?
The Robles situation is also intriguing in light of what’s likely to play out with Illan Meslier this summer. By all accounts, added to the goalkeeper’s own comments this week, the Frenchman is highly unlikely to be United’s number one next season.
Losing Robles as a free agent in the same summer would pile up the work for the recruitment department between the sticks. Kristoffer Klaesson remains untested in the senior ranks and it would be too great a risk to expect the Norwegian to step into the fray.
For some, Robles may have been a passable solution to Meslier’s exit, but losing both in the same summer piles the pressure onto the need for a high-class number one to be found.
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