Transfers will not be on Marcelo Bielsa’s agenda next month as Leeds United look to deal with the injury crisis at the heart of their defence.
The Whites head coach lost not one, but two international centre-backs in the space of 80 minutes on Saturday night at Chelsea.
While Robin Koch’s issue was known in London and compounded with news of his knee surgery on Tuesday, only yesterday it was revealed his replacement Diego Llorente picked up a new injury in the same match.
News of Koch’s surgery was a bitter pill to swallow earlier this week, but fans had consoled themselves with the optimism of an £18m defender stepping into the breach.
Even that rug has now been pulled from under their feet and Bielsa is staring down his pecking order for those central positions and what that may do to the rest of his line-up.
Bielsa has already confirmed Luke Ayling or Kalvin Phillips will play alongside Liam Cooper against West Ham United on Friday night.
Beyond those two, Pascal Struijk is the other senior option Bielsa feels he has to play in the middle until Llorente returns, but that could be Burnley on December 27 at the earliest.
Despite the mounting problems there, Bielsa does not want director of football Victor Orta to search for another defender in the transfer window next month.
With Gaetano Berardi lurking on the horizon in February, the head coach is confident his squad can cope.
“In the game against Aston Villa, Ayling played as a centre back and played a very good game,” he said.
“In the game against Liverpool, Pascal played as a centre back and he played a very good game.
“And in the Championship, Phillips also played as a centre back and he adapted to this role.
“We’re not thinking of the possibility of bringing another centre-back into the team.
“Apart from that, we also expect to count on Berardi from February.”
