Max Wober reveals true feelings on Leeds United stay as ‘fallen’ Bamford is sent crushing exit message

Leeds United defender Maximilian Wober has finally come clean over his feelings to still be at Elland Road after a summer of speculation over his future and amid strong claims he was desperate to leave Elland Road, while Patrick Bamford has been told why he is fortunate to not have been sold by the Whites this summer.

Daniel Farke and Co were forced to ride out a difficult summer having missed out on promotion last season on two fronts, with their play-off final heartache ultimately leading to the sales of Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter. Those three sales, combined with a plethora of other departures that saw 16 players in total depart the club, saw Leeds United rake in an astonishing £140m through sales.

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One player, though, who did surprisingly remain was Austian defender Wober.

The 26-year-old moved to Elland Road in January 2023 in a £10.1m (€12m / $13.3m) move from Red Bull Salzburg and generally equipped himself well despite being unable to prevent the club tumbling out of the Premier League just four months after his arrival.

Like so many Leeds players, Wober’s deal at Elland Road had a clause in it allowing him to depart on loan and, despite previously expressing his loyalty to their promotion cause, the 28-times capped Austria defender upset Farke by going against his word and signing instead for Borussia Monchengladbach on a season-long loan.

Wober played 27 times for the Bundesliga side, who had made clear their wish to tie him down to a permanent deal.

But with Leeds demanding a fee in the region of £8.5m (€10m / $11.8m), Gladbach walked away, leaving Wober in a somewhat unsavoury position back at Elland Road.

Wober comes clean on staying at Leeds

With the club remaining in the second tier, it would have come as no surprise had Wober been on the move again, but no transfer was forthcoming and the defender now finds himself behind both Pascal Struijk and Joe Rodon in the central defensive pecking order.

With fellow left-footer Struijk in excellent form and the main man keeping him out of the side, Wober has been limited to just one appearance so far – the 3-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

With Wober doing nothing to suggest he is good enough to displace Struijk off the back of that performance, few would be surprised to hear had the player expressed anger at his current situation.

However, while away on international duty with his country, Wober has now come clean on the battle for first-team places at Leeds and what it feels like to still be at Elland Road.

“We are three central defenders who are at a very similar level. If we remain successful and nothing happens, I wouldn’t change much as a coach. So I have to stand back and wait for the chance,” he told Sky Sports Austria.”

Asked about remaining at Leeds, Wober described his situation as ‘perfect’ and is adamant he ‘never wanted to leave’.

“I’m at Leeds, that’s a perfect fit for me. I never said that I absolutely wanted to leave. I accepted this challenge, but I know that it won’t be easy to work my way back to the same position as before.

“The chance to play in the Premier League again is huge because on paper we have the best team and a broad squad. Our goal is clearly promotion.”

The defender has now made 20 appearances for Leeds but may find game time limited this season if both Struijk and Rodon remain fit, while captain Ethan Ampadu can also deputise there too.

However, if he is as committed as he says he is, then Wober could prove useful squad cover over the course of a busy Championship campaign.

Bamford told he’s ‘fallen off’ and is lucky Leeds did not sell him

Another player who remained at Leeds over the summer was Bamford.

The experienced striker is now the last of three players at Elland Road – alongside Struijk and goalkeeper Illan Meslier – to still be at Leeds from the last time the club secured promotion to the Premier League in 2020.

On a contract until summer 2026, which was signed in summer 2021, just after he scored 17 goals in 38 Premier League games for Leeds, Bamford is now the club’s longest serving player, having joined from Middlesbrough in 2018.

While Bamford made 33 appearances last season, he only managed nine goals, while this season the 30-year-old striker has lost his place as the club’s first-choice striker to Mateo Joseph, who at 10 years his junior looks thoroughly hungry to make his mark this season.

However, Bamford has now been told his career has “fallen off” by former midfielder Carlton Palmer and that the striker remains fortunate to still be at Elland Road after struggling with a series of injuries.

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“Leeds United were left with Patrick Bamford. With all the departures from the football club this summer, Patrick Bamford stayed,” Palmer told Football League World.

“He’s proven that he can score goals in the Championship. In the 2019/20 season, he played 45 games, the most he’s ever played in a season, and scored 16 goals, before scoring 17 goals in a 38-game Premier League season.

“But since then, it’s been terrible with injuries. In 2021/22, nine games and two goals in the Premier League. 2022/23, 28 games and four goals. Last season, 33 games and eight goals. He has fallen off.

“I was surprised that he didn’t leave the football club because you need somebody who can score you 20 goals and be fit to play those games, and unfortunately for Patrick, he’s not been able to do that in the last few seasons.”