Leeds United have been having some problems in the midfield lately.
The Whites have quite clearly missed Kalvin Phillips during his spell on the sidelines, and Marcelo Bielsa would be forgiven for thinking about the collapsed deal to sign Michael Cuisance after Mateusz Klich’s recent underperformance.
However, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Not only will Phillips be back in action soon, but Adam Forshaw is edging closer to a return to first-team action after over a year out with injury.
Forshaw underwent surgery earlier this year on a groin problem, and it’s not expected to be too much longer before he’s back in action, and if he hits the ground running upon his return, he may be like a new signing.
It’s well-known how well Marcelo Bielsa rates Forshaw, with the Argentine stating that he combines the attacking prowess of Klich and the defensive output of Phillips, going as far as to compare him to Juventus’ star signing Arthur Melo last year.
Of course, there are bound to be question marks about Forshaw’s return after over a year out, but once he is back to his best, he will offer Bielsa another quality option in the midfield and help him forget about missing out on two key targets.
It’s clear that Leeds wanted a midfielder in the summer, with Cuisance and Rodrigo De Paul heavily linked throughout the window, and while their failure to land either of those two is frustrating, the return of Forshaw could go a long way towards alleviating any midfield concerns.
Whether or not he can wrestle back a spot in the starting XI remains to be seen, but that isn’t where Leeds’ midfield problems lie anyway.
United have been fine in the middle of the park when everyone is fit and firing, but injuries have seriously disrupted the squad.
That’s been evident in the past few weeks without Phillips, as they don’t currently have a natural understudy for the Yorkshire Pirlo in the squad, but the return of Forshaw will fix that problem as he’s played in both deeper and more attacking midfield roles throughout his career.
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