Chelsea v Everton - Premier League
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 13: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, former Chelsea player looks on prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge on December 13, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
By now, it is well known that Daniel Farke is in the last year of his Leeds United contract.
Recent reports have emerged that suggest the German looks set to put pen to paper on a new long-term deal. This will net Farke a bumper pay rise.
On Wednesday night, Farke’s side suffered their first defeat of the season. They were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Chelsea.
Following United’s 6-3 defeat, former Leeds and Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink shared his thoughts on whether Leeds should extend Farke’s deal.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink urges Leeds to keep Daniel Farke
Due to the nature of the defeat, with Leeds initially being 2-0 up, Farke has come under a lot of scrutiny from supporters after the game.
Most feel as if his subs were too late. The German only made changes when the Whites were 4-2 down, which ultimately settled us down and allowed us to gain some control of the game back.
At one point, we made it 4-3 after Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin combined. But any hope of a late comeback of our own was killed off when Valentin Barco and Danny Welbeck scored Chelsea’s fifth and sixth goals of the evening.
Whilst on punditry duties for Sky Sports, Hasselbaink urged Leeds to keep hold of Farke, who refused to give any updates regarding his contract situation post-game.
“If I am Leeds, I would continue with him.
“There’s still progress; he deserves a new contract,” Hasselbaink said.
Conor Coady in agreement with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink regarding Daniel Farke
Former Wolves and Everton defender Conor Coady was also in the studio last night for our game against Chelsea.
Like Hasselbaink, the Englishman believes it would be in our best interests to keep Farke.
“It’s huge, huge. He’s not going to give anything away until something’s sorted,” Coady said.
“I understand his answer in that moment, but it’s huge for Leeds because of the job he’s done.
“We spoke before the game about how he’s built into Leeds, how he changed what he wanted to do last year when it came to playing the Man City game and going to a back 5. He’s done all that himself.
“Where he’s built the club up to now is fully down to him, so it’s important they tie him down and help him build the squad.
“Tonight Leeds weren’t poor; they played a really good part in this game, by the way. Leeds weren’t poor by any stretch.”
Daniel Farke criticism is very harsh
From the reaction following our defeat against Chelsea, you wouldn’t think we were unbeaten in our first four outings this campaign, which included tough games against Brentford and Brighton.
Farke was far from perfect last night. But I saw some suggestions online that we should sack him, which is just ludicrous.
As we’re just establishing ourselves as a Premier League outfit, no player we sign is going to be the world-class finished article right now.
The same applies to the manager.
Farke’s in-game substitutions and use of his squad are his biggest flaws. If he wants to be the one to bring us back into Europe, he needs to improve.
However, for now, we simply need to stay in the top flight. A comfortable mid-table finish looks to be more than achievable.
Farke proved last season that he is capable of achieving this, and this season he must do so again.
The German certainly deserves a new deal at Elland Road. Next season, our aim will likely be to finish mid-table again. So until his remit changes and we are expected to push up the Premier League, and he fails at this, I wouldn’t be rushing to change our manager.