View: Leeds United is prepared to replace Daniel Farke, the fired Premier League defender.
Farke surprisingly dressed down Cresswell earlier in January for his mindset given his limited playing time this season – insisting the England U21 international will not play until he is “mentally ready”.Phil Hay of The Athletic then shared on The Square Ball podcast that the defender could be dropped after public support from the club’s manager, as he said: “I would be very surprised if they didn’t and given the situation of Cresswell .
I don’t see that the only option is to find another central defender or find something to cover that gap, whether it’s a full-back who can play as a central defender.”
Farke is sure he has four central defenders. in the squad, so if Cresswell is not there, that leaves room for another and the right-back was not set to leave this month with both Spence and Ayling leaving.
Cresswell leaving would not be a shock and should be replaced. Looking at Farke’s connections and previous work, he seems happy to be reunited with his former players at Norwich – see Sam Byram and almost Max Aarons. Nottingham Forest centre-back Andrew Omobamidele, a former Norwich player, is quite a logical move for Leeds given Farke’s love for him in the past when he handed him his Canaries debut and declared him “excellent” in the process.
The Republic of Ireland international moved to the Norwich City Ground for £20m in the summer but is yet to kick a ball for the Reds – perhaps a key contributor to their recent run of wins and resilience .At 21, he wants to leave a club where his career has stalled, and where better to go than a club where the manager already loves him?A loan is the only way we can fund Omobams while chasing him, but a purchase option would be easy to negotiate with a club that is sure to balance their books soon..
