Junior Firpo is leaving Leeds United and at least one specialist left-footed full-back is required this summer to replace him.
The truth is, Daniel Farke and the 49ers have a lot of work to do to get the Leeds United squad into shape for Premier League survival.
As has been a persistent theme for Leeds in recent years, left-back is quickly emerging as a problem area for the club once again this summer.
With Junior Firpo leaving and Sam Byram still likely to follow him out of the Elland Road exit door on a free transfer, Leeds have to identify other options for that left-back berth.
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Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images
Leeds eye Gabriel Gudmundsson of Lille to replace Junior Firpo
Firpo is heading to Real Betis when his contract expires. Leeds have had to look at others, with Konstantinos Tsimikas linked as one left-back target, while Hugo Bueno, Ben Davies and Max Aarons have all been mentioned, too.
More recently, it has been revealed Gabriel Gudmundsson of Lille is on Leeds’ shortlist. A 15-time Swedish international, the 26-year-old has also featured 137 times for Lille in the last four seasons for the Ligue 1 outfit.
Team Games Goals Assists Yellow cards Red cards
Halmstads BK 88 16 6 7 0
Groningen 37 2 5 3 0
Lille 137 4 3 12 0
Sweden 15 0 0 3 0
Gabriel Gudmundsson’s career stats
Having first broken through as a winger or wing-back, Gudmundsson is now predominantly a left-back. But he remains capable of playing across the defence and even further forward, making him a versatile asset for Lille and Sweden.
As he has aged, Leeds target Gudmundsson’s profile has developed and he has become a better defender. It’s why he has been trusted to operate as a central defender in a back three in some games for Sweden.
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Having been an attacking left-back or wing-back, he is now more of a two-way defender who can make a difference at both ends of the pitch. So much so that an interesting statistical quirk has emerged regarding Gudmundsson.
LOSC Lille v HNK Rijeka - UEFA Europa Conference League
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Gabriel Gudmundsson’s interesting statistical quirk
A key feature of Firpo’s game is his ability to be a playmaker for Leeds, with the defender contributing to 22 goals in the Championship. That figure includes 18 assists in his two seasons for Leeds.
Both Marcelo Bielsa and Farke wanted to make use of that area of Firpo’s game, particularly with low crosses and cut-backs into the box and across the six-yard line.
Season Appearances Goals Assists Yellow cards
2021/22 – Premier League 28 0 2 11
2022/23 – Premier League 26 2 2 6
2023/24 – Championship 33 0 8 7
2024/25 – Championship 35 4 10 8
Junior Firpo’s Leeds United stats
By contract, despite Gudmundsson being attack-minded for previous clubs, he has just one assist in 103 Ligue 1 games for Lille. It came back in 2022/23, meaning he has not contributed to one in two seasons since.
That isn’t to say he’s failing to get into threatening positions, but Gudmundsson has a tendency to powerfully carry the ball into central spaces to combine with the midfielders before they create chances.
That being said, he has created 4.5xA of chances (FBref) and four big chances (FotMob) for just one assist — perhaps pointing towards some bad luck or unfortunate variance as well.
Overall, the signing looks promising, but Leeds fans could have some concerns at the lack of assists given what they are losing in Firpo. Bielsa’s overlapping full-back system would not have suited Gudmundsson at all.
Given his propensity and willingness to offer up an option in inverted spaces, he will be fairly different to Firpo. However, his superior engine and athleticism ought to be something Leeds fans get excited about.