Four Championship starts doesn’t exactly suggest you’re part of the long-term plans at the club.
If Liam Cooper thought it was difficult to force his way into the Leeds United first-team now, he may find that it’s nigh-on impossible this time next month.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Garry Monk is keen on adding extra cover at centre-half despite expectations that brick-nutting cult-hero Pontus Jansson will turn his temporary deal into a permanent stay sooner rather than later.
They have option of signing the Swede for a bargain £3.5 million once he reaches twenty appearances in Leeds colours and, as it stands, he could hit that particular landmark by mid-January.
That should keep the Jansson – Kyle Bartley partnership firmly in place for the months ahead. The on-loan Swansea City powerhouse may be rather underappreciated outside of Elland Road but his 23 Championship starts suggest Monk is more than aware of his importance. Together, they have helped foster Leeds’ greatest defensive record in the first half of any season since 2009/10.
All the while Cooper, a regular starter in the previous two campaigns, drifts ever further from contention. And, if Monk is able to bring in another centre-half in January, the former Hull City defender could find that his Leeds career has been pulled from underneath him. From first choice to fourth choice in a matter of months, with just four league starts all season.
And while Monk is unlikely to sanction any departures from Elland Road in January with the road to promotion long and winding, Cooper should surely be weighing up his long-term future. Because the short-term looks fairly bleak at the moment.
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