With Sam Byram and Junior Firpo out of the lineup for the away game against Sunderland the next night, Phil Hay of The Athletic tweeted during the manager’s pre-game press conference on December 11 that he was thinking about making a trade.

The position looks to be in play as Djed Spence played 70 minutes out of position on the left in the 2-0 victory against Blackburn and Jamie Shackleton is also questionable for the match at the Stadium of Light.

“Farke is signalling that he’s giving in to left-back recruitment in January – and was considering that even before Byram/Firpo got injured,” commented Hay.

“Firpo is almost back to training, according to Farke.”

Unavoidable

Once more, all the evidence indicate that the upcoming window will require the arrival of a specialist left-back, but that has arguably always been the case since Firpo joined from Barcelona five windows ago.

Since Stuart Dallas fractured his leg, it has been problematic that players who aren’t left-backs by trade have filled in for him due to his issues with form and fitness.

For a considerable amount of time in the Premier League, it appeared as though the Whites would never address the forward position and the defence, even though both positions seemed like obvious needs. However, they eventually addressed the left-back and striker positions in the transfer window.

When Max Wober was brought in, he was a left-sided center-back, and Sam Byram, a consistent starter this season, was expected to be a right-back who could also play on the opposite side when he returned to Elland Road in the summer.

The 30-year-old looked to have finally solved the issue, which is a tribute to his excellent form this year. However, he arrived amid fitness concerns, and he will not be available until the New Year.

Leo Hjelde had an opportunity early in the season, but Farke cut him from the starting lineup, and it is just not possible to count on the present group of players to be available on a regular basis.

Thus, it would seem certain that Leeds United would reinforce at left-back if they made any additions in January, but this wouldn’t be the first time that the chance to do so was lost.