Daniel Farke, the head coach of Leeds United, has had a number of setbacks with his first team due to a series of regrettable injury problems in recent weeks.
Max Wober, a central defender who rejoined the team following a loan stint with Borussia Monchengladbach last season, is anticipated to be out for another five weeks or so due to a knee injury.
Due to knee injuries, central midfielders Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu have also suffered setbacks and are expected to be sidelined until 2025.
The Whites are now light in the center of the park after Ampadu was substituted out in the first half of the away victory over Cardiff City and Gruev was substituted out in the first half of the away draw with Norwich City.
Joe Rothwell and Ao Tanaka, who both came during the summer transfer window, are Farke’s sole senior alternatives in center midfield at the moment. Tanaka is now abroad on international duty with Japan.
This has compelled the former head coach of Norwich and Monchengladbach to look at the free agency market, with Chiekhou Kouyate showing promise for the West Yorkshire-based team.
Chiekhou Kouyate’s interest by Leeds United
When the former Nottingham Forest enforcer left the Tricky Trees at the end of the previous season, the Boot Room first claimed that the Whites had already reached an agreement with him.
It was reported that they had agreed to a one-year contract with the possibility of a one-year extension, and that the colossus was scheduled to have a medical and complete his transfer to the club over the weekend.
Leeds Live, however, followed up on that and maintained that the club is still evaluating their options in the free agent market and that no deal has been reached with the 34-year-old great.
Leeds Live also stated that Kouyate is still a player the Whites are interested in and might bring to Elland Road to expand their options in the middle of the field.
They have not, however, come to a personal understanding with the defensive midfielder, and a deal for the Senegal international is not currently believed to be imminent.
It was interesting to learn from the article that Kouyate is just one of several free agents the team is keeping an eye on in hopes of bringing them into the starting lineup to help with their current injury problems.
In light of this, Leeds might move on to another out-of-contract midfielder, Francis Coquelin, and forget about the former West Ham United and Crystal Palace star.
Reasons for Leeds to pursue Francis Coquelin
After being rejected by multiple Ligue 1 teams, the French enforcer is not sidelined by a permanent injury and is instead searching for the ideal team to advance in his career
Coquelin recently disclosed that, following early interest, both Montpellier and Lille chose different objectives for him. He has given himself until the end of January to find a new team.
Coquelin made 17 appearances in the Premier League last season, as the table above shows. He shown his abilities both in and out of possession, being calm with the ball and disrupting the opponent with tackles, interceptions, and recoveries.
He has played a lot of football this year, even though not this term, as all 17 of his appearances occurred in the final six months of the season after missing the first half due to a knee injury.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger famously likened Coquelin to Premier League great N’Golo Kante, saying both players are ball-winners who can gain possession without drawing fouls.
With 2.1 tackles and interceptions and 1.1 fouls a game in La Liga last season, the 33-year-old ace, who played 160 games for the Gunners and 105 in the Premier League, continues to live up to that description. He wins the ball back more often than he commits fouls.
The former Arsenal player might be a better alternative than Kouyate, who might be especially rusty in contrast, therefore Leeds must now try to convince him to come back to England for a spell in the Championship.