Long-serving midfielder Adam Forshaw has been made available for transfer in the January transfer window by Premier League outfit Leeds United, reporter Dean Jones tells Give Me Sport.
The former Middlesbrough midfielder is approaching his five-year anniversary as a Leeds United player.
A £4.5 million signing back in 2018, Forshaw is, alongside Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas, one of only a few players who’s arrival at Elland Road preceded that of Marcelo Bielsa.
But after falling down the pecking order thanks to a seemingly never-ending series of injuries and the addition of some new faces in the centre of the park, Leeds are reportedly ready to move on from a player who joined during the final few weeks of the Thomas Christiansen era in West Yorkshire.
Has Adam Forshaw already played his final game for Leeds United?
“He is available in January. I’m told that it is true,” Jones explains.
Forshaw, a tenacious central midfielder who’s experience and attitude made him a favourite of Bielsa’s, has made 78 appearances for Leeds in five years. Only four of those have come this season, however; with Marc Roca, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson now firmly established as Jesse Marsch’s first-choice trio in the engine room.
His last Premier League outing came during August’s 1-0 defeat to Brighton, with an ankle problem ruling Forshaw out of Leeds’ recent fixtures.
“He’s given such a valuable response, because I didn’t know Forshaw was going to be the player he was once before,” Bielsa said back in January, hailing the Liverpool-born 31-year-old after he recovered from yet another spell on the sidelines.
That is the story of Forshaw’s Leeds career. When fit, he is a valuable member of the squad; a leader on and off the pitch. The problem is, he’s just not fit often enough.
Leeds, meanwhile, are prioritising attacking additions during the winter window. Patrick Bamford’s ongoing fitness issues have exposed the lack of depth available to Marsch in the final third; Salernitana’s Boulaye Dia and Blackburn Rovers’ Ben Brereton-Diaz two potential options.
Leeds could also launch another approach for PSV talisman Cody Gakpo. The Netherlands international, however, appears to be aiming a little higher these days. PSV turned down an initial £30 million bid from Leeds over the summer.
