{"id":98937,"date":"2025-06-02T20:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T20:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/98937\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T20:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T20:53:11","slug":"graham-smyth-outlines-obstacles-leeds-united-face-as-49ers-eye-swift-junior-firpo-resolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/98937\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham Smyth outlines obstacles Leeds United face as 49ers eye swift Junior Firpo resolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Leeds United left-back Junior Firpo\u00a0is out of contract at the end of this month and could leave the club after four seasons.<\/p>\n

Despite\u00a0Leeds United<\/a>\u00a0announcing contract negotiations were taking place with\u00a0Junior Firpo<\/a>, there has been a sense of inevitability that his stint in West Yorkshire is coming to an end.<\/p>\n

Firpo\u2019s Leeds future appears to be getting clearer<\/a>\u00a0by the day, while\u00a0Barcelona could be a potential destination for Firpo<\/a> as he weighs up his options.<\/p>\n

In recent days, it was revealed that Lyon have offered Firpo a contract<\/a> as well, but him remaining with Leeds has not been ruled out yet, either.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Charlotte Wilson\/Offside\/Offside via Getty ImagesLeeds eye quick resolution with Junior Firpo as stumbling block emerges<\/p>\n

Following the aftermath of an incredible title parade,\u00a0Firpo sent a message to Paraag Marathe<\/a>\u00a0regarding a new contract. Nothing materialised but a decision must be made on his future soon.<\/p>\n

Like many others,\u00a0Firpo has enjoyed time off on holiday and away from Leeds<\/a>. The left-back has been with his family in Japan where Firpo has been spotted in an Ao Tanaka shirt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s got to the point where some\u00a0Leeds fans want Firpo gone<\/a>\u00a0after becoming tired of the transfer saga but other Leeds fans are not pleased with the latest Firpo news<\/a> regarding Lyon.<\/p>\n

Graham Smyth of The Yorkshire Evening Post has detailed the latest on Firpo. He states that the club have \u201cput the ball in Junior Firpo\u2019s court when it comes to his Elland Road future\u201d but also that there is no progress on an agreement yet.<\/p>\n

MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES<\/p>\n

\u201cThe YEP understands an offer was tabled with terms that would represent an uplift on what he earned as a Championship player following the 2023 relegation but a reduction on the wage he enjoyed when he first arrived from Camp Nou in 2021.\u201d <\/p>\n

Firpo elected to stay for two promotion battles where others made use of exit clauses of some description via loans or release clauses. Firpo could have made use of that after a wage reduction following relegation but fought to get Leeds back up.<\/p>\n

However, Smyth\u2019s report adds that another barrier potentially standing in the way of him remaining is the length of contract he could be offered by other clubs. Firpo turns 29 this summer but Smyth revealed that Leeds are not expected to commit to another four-year deal.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesLeeds United\u2019s major Junior Firpo problem <\/p>\n

The reality is that the Dominican Republic international defender\u2019s Leeds career is uncertain and it has been for a while ever since\u00a0Firpo\u2019s agents said staying with Leeds was \u2018unlikely\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leeds need a more defensive-minded left-back option. Or, at the very least, someone who is competent both ways. Firpo was a liability as a defender in the Premier League, even if he showed promise in possession and the final third.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen who Leeds will acquire but a younger, less injury-prone, and all-round full-back ought to be the target for that flank. Firpo doesn\u2019t tick enough of those boxes to be a starter.<\/p>\n

Would he be happy to hold a squad player role at Leeds? Where he would not necessarily always be brought on as a substitute, let alone start games often? It\u2019s definitely unlikely.<\/p>\n

In that sense, a parting of ways could be perfectly timed. It allows Firpo to depart after two outstanding seasons with the club and head for a new adventure.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds United left-back Junior Firpo\u00a0is out of contract at the end of this month and could leave the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,18568,25667,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-98937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-graham-smyth","11":"tag-junior-firpo","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-san-francisco","14":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","15":"tag-sanfrancisco","16":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114615759949732260","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}