Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
After today’s news, £13m Leeds player really could be stuck on the bench for a long time – opinion
The transfer window hasn’t even opened yet, but already Leeds United are doing deals.
Struijk is set to extend his stay at Elland Road until 2027.
It’s a massive show of faith from the club and Jesse Marsch for the versatile defender.
Capable of playing as a centre-back or as a holding midfielder, Struijk has regularly been used across the back line.
Marcelo Bielsa and Marsch have both relied on that versatility, and this season he’s spent most of the campaign at left-back.
An injury to Junior Firpo in pre-season gave Marsch a dilemma.
Marsch’s left-back conundrum
He had already agreed to let youngster Leif Davis leave the club, and Stuart Dallas is also a long-term absentee.
It meant Struijk ended pre-season learning how to play in the role, and Marsch had plenty of faith in the Dutchman.
“It’s not his natural position, but Pascal still is mobile enough. He’s intelligent, he’s technically good and he understands the tactics,” .
“We’ve worked a lot with him, showing them a lot of videos and talking a lot of different phases of the game and what we want it to look like.
“There’s benefits actually to having Pascal on the pitch in this position. I think he’s taken it on that way and I think he’s ready for a big season and to show that that he can play in that position quite well.”
Struijk had adapted quickly to his new role, and now with a contract on the way, Firpo could find himself on the bench for a long time now.
Firpo could be on the bench after Struijk’s new deal
arrived at Elland Road last season, and was immediately first choice on the left.
However, a knee injury in pre-season delayed his start to this campaign.
He started just one Premier League match before the World Cup break, and it didn’t go to plan.
The 26-year-old was slammed by pundit Simon Walton for his performance against Leicester.
Firpo dropped back down to the bench for the next four matches, failing to play a single minute.
Marsch has already admitted this season that Struijk is going to play a big role at the club going forward.
The length of his new deal certainly suggests Leeds have a lot of faith in him to continue improving.
His versatility means Firpo may have a chance going forward to break into the team.
However, right now Firpo could be about to spend a long time on the bench playing second fiddle to Struijk.