Joe Rodon continued to look like one of the best purchases in the Championship this season at the back against Hull City on Easter Monday, putting in a resilient display when the Tigers looked to catch the Whites napping.
The Tottenham Hotspur loanee made three blocks to ensure Fabio Carvalho was the only Hull player to find the back of Illan Meslier’s net in the 3-1 Leeds victory, alongside walking off the Elland Road pitch grinning at the fact 100% of his aerial duels were successfully won.
It would potentially devastate Leeds if Rodon was not kept around in West Yorkshire past his current season-long loan deal, but Daniel Farke and Co will be keeping an eye on this forgotten Whites figure as a potential replacement for their star loanee if the 26-year-old defender does end up moving back to North London.
Maximilian Wober’s time out on loan
Maximilian Wober could return to Elland Road reinvigorated to turn around Leeds fans’ perceptions of him, with the Austrian defender’s short spell at the club tainted by relegation just a matter of months into his switch to England.
Immediately jumping ship in the drop down to the Championship, Wober has become a key part of the Borussia Mönchengladbach jigsaw on loan.
The 26-year-old was equally as gritty for his new employers against 1. FC Heidenheim as Rodon was against Hull recently, surpassing the Spurs loanee’s duels won count at six in the 1-1 away draw this month.
Helping himself to a goal and three assists playing out from the back in his German surroundings too, Wober could slot into Farke’s system at Leeds rather well if given a second chance on his return to West Yorkshire.
With Gladbach looking unlikely to try and tie the 6 foot 2 man down to a permanent deal themselves, as per a report from Sport Witness which states that the asking price from Leeds for the Austrian defender might well be a sticking point, Leeds could benefit from gaining Wober back especially if Rodon heads back to Spurs.
It’s not as if Wober completely flopped in a Leeds shirt either from his turbulent first few months at Elland Road, coming away from that toxic time in the club’s recent history with his head held somewhat high.
Wober’s future at Leeds
Wober would come away from his 16 Premier League games last season with a respectable 6.84 Sofascore rating next to his name, with his defensive teammates not getting so lucky as Pascal Struijk bowed out of the campaign with a lesser 6.75 score.
He was even described as being a “leader” by ex-Whites boss Jesse Marsch, with Farke potentially taking a similar shine to the 26-year-old if he comes back refreshed.
Winning 3.3 duels on average per game in the top flight, alongside registering four clearances per match, everyone at Leeds will hope their cast aside £11m man can come on leaps and bounds on his return after a confidence-boosting loan switch to the Bundesliga is up.
Farke will pray that Ethan Ampadu can form an equally formidable partnership with the ex-Red Bull Salzburg man that rivals the one he currently has with Rodon, if Wober is given a shot at redemption.
It might well feel like the end of the world for the Whites if they do end up losing Rodon at the conclusion of this campaign, but as has been seen in the past with Leeds managing to move on past losing the likes of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, the Championship title chasers would be able to go again with Wober then benefitting.
Of course, there is still a long way to go before the end of the upcoming summer transfer window and there could be plenty of twists and turns with both Rodon and Wober’s respective futures at Elland Road.
