This week, it emerged that Premier League icon Cesc Fabregas could be an option to replace Daniel Farke at Leeds United.
And while all the signs now suggest that Farke will stay on with the San Fransisco 49ers’ backing – the three-time promotion winner granted the chance to prove he has learned from those Norwich City failings – that the Leeds United bosses spent the aftermath of Monday’s 6-0 hammering of Stoke City considering their options suggests that there are some at Elland Road who harbour doubts about the man currently in the dugout.
According to reports, Leeds may have opted to move Farke on had they stumbled upon a young, forward-thinking manager with world-leading potential. See, for instance, a pre-Liverpool Arne Slot or a Rayo Vallecano-era Andoni Iraola.
Leeds held talks with both Slot and Iraola two years ago.
Former Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Spain playmaker Cesc Fabregas boasts far less experience now, from a managerial sense, than either Slot or Iraola did back then. Though, according to TBR Football, Fabregas still was identified as a potential Farke replacement internally.
Interestingly, Fabrizio Romano explains that Fabregas is on RB Leipzig’s radar. Red Bull, of course, are minority shareholders at Elland Road these days. One presumes that the energy drink giants – while taking a keen interest in Fabregas’ progress at Serie A newcomers Como – will play a major role in any future managerial decisions in West Yorkshire too.
And ironically enough, while Fabregas had been floated as a potential Daniel Farke successor, it is only six years since a current member of the Leeds United roster was being tipped to replace the 2010 World Cup winner himself.
Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesEthan Ampadu spent time with Leeds United-linked Cesc Fabregas at Chelsea
One of the most gifted and influential midfielders of his generation departed Chelsea in the middle of the 2019/20 season, crossing the Channel and putting pen to paper with Monaco.
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And, when asked how the Premier League giants could cope without their arch string-puller, then-Blues boss Maurizio Sarri tipped one Ethan Ampadu to step – eventually anyway – into Fabregas’ gilded boots.
“Of course, playing as a central midfielder in our team is not easy. We need to try and try and try in training, but I think that [Ampadu] is able to do it,” Sarri said, just over six years ago.
“In the future maybe [Ampadu can thrive as a deep-lying playmaker]. But we have to work. The player who plays in that position usually touches about 120, 130 balls [per game]. We need a specialist there.”
More than half a decade on, had Leeds opted to reward all of Farke’s excellent work with a freshly-printed P45, a return to English football for Fabregas could have seen the 37-year-old reunite with a man currently wearing the armband at Elland Road.
Still only 24, Ampadu finally cut ties with Chelsea when securing a £7 million move to Yorkshire during Farke’s first summer at the helm.
Sarri clearly had faith in his teenage, poodle-haired Welshman. But with the Napoli icon becoming the latest blood-soaked victim of Roman Abramovic’s hair-trigger only a few months later, the opportunity to slot into the spot vacated by Fabregas’ exit would not be forthcoming.
Ampadu was instead farmed out on a series of loans – to Sheffield United, Venezia, Spezia and the aforementioned RB Leipzig – before finally finding a long-term home at Leeds.
Ampadu ‘the most important player’ for Daniel Farke’s Leeds
It appears that Fabregas has kept half an eye on Ampadu’s development since their brief time together at Chelsea. The Arsenal icon will be delighted to see his one-time protege return to the Premier League stage, especially with his new, more closely-cropped visage.
Great seeing @ethanamp4 starting and playing in such a big games. Good to see him a better haircut as well. 😅
— Cesc Fàbregas Soler (@cesc4official) February 19, 2020
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As for his development into an elite, Fabregas-style playmaker, Ampadu’s time this season has been split between a midfield role and a central defensive one. The skipper returned to Farke’s back four after Pascal Struijk suffered a season-ending foot injury a few weeks ago.
His impressive passing range from an almost quarterback role has, however, seen Ampadu become a crucial cog in Leeds’ machine-like possession game. Not quite West Yorkshire’s answer to Cesc Fabregas, but just as integral to Leeds’ cause as the silky Spaniard was to Chelsea’s all those years ago.
“He’s one of my most important players if not the most important player,” Farke beams. “He’s our captain. He always plays in the centre of the park.
“He’s important for the whole vibe, the whole spirit, the whole mood.”