Leeds United loaned out Sam Greenwood to Middlesbrough for the season, and they look to be teeing the Teesside club up for a bargain in 2024.
Daniel Farke will not care at all what his loan players are up to right now, with his focus fully on what Leeds are doing in this promotion race.
However, it’s worth keeping a record of what these several players are doing, because they could help shape the summer window in 2024 if they bring in decent money.
Sam Greenwood was one of the final players to leave the club in August as he joined Leeds’ EFL rivals Middlesbrough for the season.
In the process, he has helped a lot in turning ‘Boro’s early-season form around as they have climbed up the table after a worrying winless run to kick off the campaign.
The Athletic revealed a £1.5million buy option in the forward’s loan deal at the Riverside, to which manager Michael Carrick made this comment on it earlier in the month
His form for Middlesbrough is pleasing to see as he was never going to get these sorts of opportunities under Farke.
That is because no one at the club knew his best position, whether that be Marcelo Bielsa, Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia, Sam Allardyce, or now Farke.
However, Carrick has seen a key role for him in the side, and is getting the best out of him right now, which is really beneficial for him, and we should have no issue with the fact he’s gone out on loan.
The problem for Leeds is that we have hamstrung ourselves in maximising the value of someone with two-and-a-half years left on his contract.
Middlesbrough will surely bite Leeds’ hand off for the £1.5million fee that is on the table here, and that won’t even generate a profit on the fee Leeds gave to Arsenal for his services back in 2020.
46 senior appearances later, and Leeds aren’t getting more value for a player impressing in the second tier, at the age of 21, it’s the 49ers’ first real mistake.
Letting him go on a permanent deal is by no means a bad decision from Leeds, as he didn’t have much of a future here, but not making more money is when the opportunity was always going to be there, given Carrick’s ability as a coach.
