A sledgehammer would have been more subtle than Marcelo Neveleff’s recent photograph with Junior Firpo. The Dominican Republic head coach was on a recruitment drive around Europe at the start of the month and the offensive with Firpo could not have been more charming.
Firpo was born in the Caribbean nation’s capital, Santo Domingo, in 1996, but moved to Malaga in Spain when he was six-years-old. The left-back’s career speaks for itself and so too does the Dominican Republic’s standing in the sport.
As a former Real Betis and Barcelona defender currently playing in the world’s foremost domestic competition, Firpo would be on another level or three from anyone else who currently plays for his birth nation. It would be a major coup for Neveleff to talk Firpo back into the arms of his countrymen, but still unrealistic as of last week.
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Firpo was happy to speak with the Argentine and meet him in the UK, but he still harbours hopes of playing for Spain’s senior team. Intriguingly for Firpo, the new Spain boss is responsible for the defender’s only previous taste of Spanish international duty.
Luis de la Fuente, who succeeded Luis Enrique in December, was the under-21 boss who called Firpo up in August 2018. It’s a glimmer of hope for Firpo, who must first continue with his recent renaissance for Leeds United and play at a consistent level every week in the Premier League to turn heads in Madrid.
“I've been with them (Dominican Republic bosses),” he told LeedsLive. “I've been talking with them about the future, about what they will do in the future, but right now I am in the middle because, obviously, I can play for Spain as well.
“I think I'm an option on the list. I know the manager from Spain and, obviously, it's difficult to compare the Dominican Republic with Spain. It’s a much bigger national team.
“It’s one of my goals to reach the Spanish national team. From there we'll see.”
Spain’s loss in this international break is United’s gain. Javi Gracia is primed for an uninterrupted fortnight with his squad, 14 of whom have not gone away with their countries.
It promises to be a pivotal spell of coaching for the new Leeds boss as he finalises his plan of attack for the 11-match run-in to keep United in the division.
“This will help us a lot for the last 11 games that will be massive,” said Firpo. “I hope we get the win on the weekend (Firpo spoke to us pre-Wolves) and we can work those two weeks much better, much [more] relaxed and will be much easier.
“It would be a really good thing having, probably, a lot of the players from the squad here and try to work with everyone and try to do a mini pre-season where Javi and the staff can tell us exactly what we need to do.”
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