Leeds United, and specifically Yosuke Ideguchi, haven’t had a great deal of luck with loan moves in recent seasons.
Signed from Gamba Osaka there was a lot of hype attached to the player when the deal was completed to take him to Elland Road. A loan to Cultural Leonesa followed but Ideguchi found it hard to even get on the Spanish club’s bench, and only made a handful of appearances.
In the summer, the footballer was loaned to Greuther Fürth in Germany with an option to buy. That potentially could have seen Leeds see the player go and maybe even provide a profit for them.
At the end of September, the 22 year old suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury and the decision was made to avoid an operation and try an alternative recovery. Ideguchi had only damaged part of the cruciate and it was hoped that building muscle up around the knee, along with a period of recovery, could do the trick.
Targeting a January return, he returned to training but there’s now been a setback.
Nordbayern report the player’s knee is giving him pain again and there’s swelling, showing the alternative recovery hasn’t gone to plan. He can’t train and now there’s the possibility of an operation being needed, which would see him out for the rest of the season and make a return to Leeds United almost inevitable.
The Yorkshire club would then find themselves with a player recovering from a serious knee issue, who has hardly played since he signed for them, and who would have experienced two failed loans.
