Good Morning. It's Monday 5th October, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Injury setback for Bahoya
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya’s bright week with France’s under-21s has been cut short by an ankle injury, and Leeds United are waiting on tests before they know what he will miss. The 21-year-old had started the break well. He scored a curling finish on his weaker left foot in the 2-0 win over Estonia, having also started the draw with Iceland. Recalled again for Saturday’s qualifier against Luxembourg, he managed only 35 minutes of a 3-2 win. Sky Sports’ Zinny Boswell reported that he tried to play through the pain before being taken off with an ankle problem and replaced by Tottenham’s Mathys Tel, who went on to score the winner.He landed awkwardly on his right ankle around the half-hour at Stade du Moustoir, stayed down while the medical staff checked him, then carried on for a few minutes before hobbling off. France under-21s coach Gérald Baticle told L’Équipe he could not yet say how serious it was. “I can’t tell you exactly what the injury is; there will be further tests, but it’s his ankle,” he said. Tuesday’s game against Switzerland looks unlikely.
The timing is awkward for Daniel Farke. Bahoya only arrived in the summer and has been worked into the side gradually rather than thrown in. An impact injury on international duty now leaves his place for the return to Premier League action uncertain until he is scanned back at Thorp Arch. He was able to leave the pitch under his own steam, and France chose not to risk him, but Leeds will not know the extent of the setback until those tests are done.
Has Nmecha done enough to earn a new contract?
Opinion is split on Lukas Nmecha, and the numbers this season have not settled the argument. The Germany international is out of contract at the end of the season, and a free transfer next summer is already in view. He arrived from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2025 on a free, signing a two-year deal that runs to June 2027. Seven caps for Germany came with him. In just over 1,000 minutes last season he scored six times and added an assist in the Premier League, part of a wider return of seven goals across 37 appearances.That is a useful rate for a squad striker who was never a regular starter. He knows where the goal is. This season’s Premier League table tells a thinner story. Nmecha has not started a league game. Four substitute appearances have brought 64 minutes, no goals and one assist, with a shots-per-game figure of 0.8 and a pass completion of 63.6 per cent. His average rating sits at 6.14, 17th in the Leeds squad. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, by contrast, has five appearances, 421 minutes, three goals and a 7.11 rating.
The gap between the first-choice number nine and his understudy is there in black and white. The rest of Nmecha’s game is the longer-standing problem. Link-up play is limited, and he does not hold the ball up well enough to bring others into the move. In a squad that has moved on, he can look like the weak link when he is asked to do more than finish. Reports have him unhappy in a backup role and unlikely to sign again unless the minutes change. None of that erases what he cost. He was a freebie.
Leeds did not pay a fee, he chipped in during a survival season, and a reliable finisher on the bench still has a use over a long winter. Daniel Farke needs someone who can genuinely challenge Calvert-Lewin, though, not just replace him for a quarter of an hour. Is Nmecha that player? Four cameos, 64 minutes and a blank in front of goal say no. Last season’s goals-per-minute record says he is not a passenger either. The club are reported to be weighing contract talks against the risk of losing him for nothing, with a January sale not ruled out.
Hopefully its nothing serious.