Leeds United have four of their players representing their respective nations at the World Cup.
Ao Tanaka, Noah Okafor, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Brenden Aaronson have all earned call-ups following the form they have displayed in West Yorkshire. They ensured Leeds comfortably stayed in the Premier League.
Ahead of Japan’s first game, Tanaka has been handed an unexpected boost for his prospects of playing regular minutes. Liverpool’s Wataru Endo picked up an injury and had to withdraw from the squad.
However, the 49ers will certainly be on alert after some concerning news has emerged regarding one of the other Leeds players away on international duty.
Gabriel Gudmundsson “in a bad state” whilst away with Sweden
Gabriel Gudmundsson, 27, is coming off the back of an incredible debut campaign for Leeds. The defender was one of the players who benefited most from Daniel Farke’s shift to a three-at-the-back formation.
There was a lot of controversy last summer as the Whites opted to let Junior Firpo leave as a free agent. But, with how well Gudmundsson has done to replace the Spaniard, this chat was soon forgotten.
Gudmundsson’s last appearance for Leeds was in the FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley. The Swede picked up an injury that ruled him out of Leeds’ four remaining Premier League fixtures.
Thankfully for him, he was able to recover enough to be called up to Sweden’s World Cup squad, where Gudmundsson managed to play 64 minutes in their pre-World Cup friendly against Greece.
However, according to a report from Sportbladet, courtesy of Sports Witness, Gudmundsson’s availability for Sweden’s first group game against Tunisia on Monday has been called into question. Sweden’s press officer, Petra Thoren, confirmed that the Leeds defender is not in team training due to illness.
“Everyone is in training except Gabriel, who is still at the hotel. He is still in a bad state,” she said.
“He has mild symptoms of illness. I won’t go into what it is. We haven’t received much information about how serious it is. He’s probably in a bad way and isolated as much as he can,” Thoren said.
49ers will be on alert after Gabriel Gudmundsson injury update
Without a doubt, these comments will have the 49ers on high alert.
Given the fact that Gudmundsson has just returned from injury and now appears to be ill as well, the last thing Leeds needs is the defender to rush back for the game on Monday and pick up an even worse injury.
Reports are suggesting that Leeds are looking to sign another left-back this summer to provide much-needed cover for Gudmundsson. Undoubtedly, this concerning update will only accelerate the 49ers’ transfer plans.
We all want Gudmundsson to regain his fitness and have a great World Cup. But, if he suffers a long-term injury, that will be a catastrophic blow before pre-season preparations have even begun.
Farke and Co. will hope that any minutes Gudmundsson plays in the World Cup are monitored adequately by Sweden’s staff. Considering the fact he is coming off the back of illness and injury, it’s hard to blame them.
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