Leeds United‘s tight-knit squad harmony was clear for all to see during their valiant 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
Reduced to ten men on the brink of half-time due to a dubious second yellow card being brandished to Gabriel Gudmundsson, the Whites could well have folded on another day as they attempt to survive in the Premier League.
Instead, everyone dug deep, and a share of the spoils was secured, with summer recruits Jaka Bijol and Anton Stach combining to win ten duels to preserve Karl Darlow’s clean sheet.
Farke and Co’s business in the summer, for the most part, has paid off, with James Justin and Lukas Nmecha also involved, as they remain central to the German’s plans.
The West Yorkshire giants have been stung in the market before, though, as they continue to suffer from the misfire of Maximilian Wober, who somehow remains on the Elland Road books to this day.
What went wrong for Wober at Leeds
Wober was purchased during what now reads as an infamous period for Leeds, with multiple failed signings joining in the summer of 2022, before relegation came about at the close of the 2022/23 season.
Indeed, both Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen joined during this bumpy period, too, with 56 games all the underwhelming pair would manage at Elland Road, before seeking out new pastures.
Tyler Adams
Unfortunately for Farke’s men in the here and now, they haven’t been able to get the Austrian off their books for good just yet as he continues to stick out as a £11m stain, having arrived in January of that season.
Only managing to collect a dire two clean sheets from 16 Premier League appearances donning Leeds white, there is no possible route back for Wober in West Yorkshire at this point in time, especially with Bijol sticking out as a far better purchase from Udinese in the heart of defence.
Wober’s Leeds career
Games played
28
Minutes played
1837 mins
Clean sheets
4
Transfer cost
£10m
Wage cost
£35k-per-week
With his current season out on loan at Werder Bremen also completely derailed by injuries, the day cannot come sooner that the 28-year-old is permanently off the Leeds roster, with Wober never living up to the “special” billing once handed to him by unpopular Whites boss Jesse Marsch.
Worryingly, Farke could have a similar Wober-style problem on his hands right now.
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Leeds must sell Wober 2.0
A clearout could well be needed this approaching summer, with Joel Piroe another reserve figure who might be discarded, having failed to adapt to the pressures of the Premier League.
Alongside Piroe, Sebastiaan Bornauw could also be shoved to the exit door very shortly, as the £5.1m centre-back’s stay to date hasn’t worked out whatsoever.
The Belgian’s “dream come true” move has turned into more of a Wober-like nightmare, with the resilient defender who impressed in the Bundesliga yet to come to the forefront in England from his minimal opportunities.
The move has even been so poor that it has even been blasted as a “laughable” waste of money by Leeds-based content creator Lewis Deighton.
He has been reduced to a background role, with a concerning zero clean sheets falling into his lap this season in the Premier League, from nine appearances.
Bornauw’s Premier League numbers
Games played
9
Games started
4
Minutes played
315 mins
Accurate passes per 90
9.8
Total duels won per 90
1.8
Clean sheets
0
For a player who rakes in a hefty reported £45k-per-wage salary, which is £5k more per week than both Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu, a lot more would have been expected of him.
Instead of becoming a solid part of Farke’s camp, an exit from Elland Road in the summer looks the more likely outcome, with an escape route to the Bundesliga possibly in the works, like Wober moving to Bremen.
For Leeds’ sake, they’ll hope he moves on for good, so he doesn’t become a nuisance that’s hard to shake, like the Vienna-born defender.
He could still potentially play a part in Leeds attempting to stay up in the Premier League, but with no league minutes under his belt since mid-February, he’s hardly the German’s first option to pick.
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