The 27-year-old said he is “almost recovered” from his ligament injury and has “a lot of desire to play with the team again” in an interview with Spanish news site Momento Deportivo on Monday (4 September).
The defender hasn’t played for the Whites yet this season, but he acknowledged in an interview that he is thinking about switching to the Dominican Republic.
Firpo moved to Elland Road from Barcelona in July 2021 for an estimated price of £12.8 million with add-ons. He has now been there for more than two years.
His tenure with Leeds hasn’t quite gone as he had hoped after missing a significant portion of both of those seasons due to various injuries.
His on-field performances have suffered as a result, and the left-back has had trouble winning over the Whites faithful or the managers he has played for throughout his tenure in West Yorkshire.
Last season, he played in 25 games across all competitions, scoring twice and setting up twice as his team was relegated from the Premier League.
With the defender of Dominican descent in the starting lineup, Leeds only managed to keep one clean sheet during the league season, so he didn’t do much to assist Leeds avoid the relegation (SofaScore).
In his Premier League appearances, Firpo averaged 1.3 interceptions, 2.5 tackles, but only 0.1 times did he win the ball back for his club. He was also passed 1.2 times per game.
Due to his poor pass accuracy of just 73%, he only won 50% of the duels he participated in and lost possession 10.3 times per 90 minutes.
The left-back’s offensive play wasn’t any better either; only 42% of his crosses found a teammate, he only completed 40% of his dribbles, and he only generated one significant opportunity whole season.
The defender was linked to a transfer back to La Liga over the summer. A number of the players Firpo played with last season have now moved on after exercising contract clauses.
Despite Firpo’s admission that he is close to recovering from his injury, there is no reason for him to be in the starting lineup given his disastrous tenure with the Whites thus far.
However, he does have one advantage in that Daniel Farke doesn’t have many options at left-back due to his inability to complete a deal for a left-sided player in the closing hours of the transfer window.
Firpo will now have to knuckle down and prove to his new manager that he is worthy of a place in the lineup and can be relied upon after previously failing to deliver for the club.
