'Fond of' - club reveals transfer stance on Leeds United player

Leeds United star Junior Firpo has been linked with a move away from Elland Road ahead of the January transfer window, but there is a new twist. Firpo has featured sparingly so far this season, though purely through injury, with Daniel Farke highlighting that the Spaniard is part of his plans as recently as Tuesday.

Firpo will have a battle on his hands to feature regularly, with Sam Byram also hoping to start on the left, but across a long Championship season, he should get plenty of opportunities. Still, it has been reported in Spain that Firpo wants to leave Elland Road having struggled for form and fitness for the most part.

One of his former clubs, Real Betis, have been linked, but in a fresh twist, the president of the Andalusian outfit has responded to the transfer links, all-but ruling out a deal. Betis chief Ángel Haro told Sport via SportWitness of his side's winter shopping list: "The list is short, and I have not seen that name. He is a player that we are very fond of, he is a Betic youth player, but I already said that he is not on the table.”

In the meantime, Leeds boss Farke has made it clear he would like to keep his squad together through January. He said on Tuesday: "You never know what happens in this business. If you ask me right now, it would be a calm window because the key decisions for our squad are made, and you can always have a look at one or two positions, and what can happen with loan players, but it won’t affect the major direction of the club.

"We have to keep the core players and to make sure the key players of the club are together. The group around the players, also the staff, are there, and it should be a relaxed window and a different one to what we had in the summer. We know everything is smoothly working and that we are on the right path. We won’t fall asleep, but I’m expecting a pretty calm window.”