In just under a week, Leeds United’s midfield has taken a hit with injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev. Moreover, the Bulgarian midfielder will join his teammate and be out for a while.
As a result, with the club not putting a timeline for a return, one media member likens Gruev’s injury to a Brighton & Hove Albion veteran during his time at Arsenal.
The midfielder will miss months rather than weeks and undergo surgery on his meniscus after sustaining a significant knee injury in the draw at Norwich City.
Ampadu is unlikely to play for the rest of this year, and reports indicate he may return in early 2025 after suffering a knee injury in last weekend’s match against Coventry City.
Leeds likely wanted to rely on a Gruev-Ao Tanaka partnership to help offset Ampadu’s absence, making this a significant setback for the team.
How long could Ilia Gruev be out for?
TEAMtalk editor James Marshment noted on X that Leeds opting not to put a timeline for his return could be a sign that the injury could keep Gruev out for the long term. Moreover, he compared the situation to that of Brighton’s Danny Welbeck when he was at Arsenal.
“Feel for Gruev and a bitter blow for Leeds to lose him to a meniscus injury,” Marshment wrote. “Done that myself and it hurts. #LUFC not putting a time on his recovery, but I’ve seen other players (Danny [Welbeck], while at Arsenal, was absent for 238 days with it) face a long road back from similar.”
Feel for Gruev and a bitter blow for Leeds to lose him to a meniscus injury. Done that myself and it hurts. #LUFC not putting a time on his recovery but I’ve seen other players (Danny Webeck while at Arsenal was absent for 238 days with it) face a long road back from similar
— James Marshment (@marshyleeds) October 3, 2024
This week, manager Daniel Farke shared his perspective on potentially signing a free agent to bolster the midfield and explained what would need to occur for the club to bring in an unattached player.
“If I’m honest, I’m not a big believer in doing signings in October, but let’s see,” Farke said. “So first of all, we wait a little bit and hope for a positive outcome from the scan of Ilia and if there’s really a shocking diagnosis and he is out for months, then of course, we have a look on it, but I can’t confirm that we would do then something so then everything would come together – otherwise just a waste of money and a waste of energy.”
