{"id":26177,"date":"2025-11-05T12:03:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T17:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/leeds-united-players-available-on-free-transfers-in-january\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T17:03:49","slug":"leeds-united-players-available-on-free-transfers-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/leeds-united-players-available-on-free-transfers-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds United players available on free transfers in January"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/leeds-united-players-available-on-free-transfers-in-january\/#Leeds_United_goalkeeper_to_leave_in_January\" >Leeds United goalkeeper to leave in January<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/05\/leeds-united-players-available-on-free-transfers-in-january\/#Alex_Baird_is_nearing_the_end_of_his_contract_at_Elland_Road\" >Alex Baird is nearing the end of his contract at Elland Road<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Leeds United are preparing for the departure of promising young goalkeeper Alex Baird, with multiple clubs monitoring his situation ahead of the January transfer window, according to Pete O&#8217;Rourke.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 18-year-old, who is yet to make a top-flight appearance for Leeds, is widely expected to leave Elland Road at the end of the season after struggling to secure his way into the first team.<\/p>\n<p>Baird joined Leeds&#8217; academy with high hopes but his progress has slowed in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>This season he made eight appearances in the Under-18 Premier League, conceding 19 goals and keeping just two clean sheets. Despite those numbers, scouts are reportedly impressed with his shot-stopping ability and reflexes.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leeds_United_goalkeeper_to_leave_in_January\"><\/span>Leeds United goalkeeper to leave in January<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Football insider Pete O&#8217;Rourke acknowledged the growing interest via X (formerly Twitter), writing:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Leeds United Under-18 goalkeeper Alex Baird has attracted strong interest from a number of clubs ahead of the January transfer window. The highly-rated young shot-stopper will be available on a free transfer in January, with several teams monitoring his situation closely.&#8221;<\/em><em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Baird, who turned 18 in August, feels his opportunities are limited by the intense competition in Leeds&#8217; youth hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>Goalkeepers Darryl Onban and Rory Mahdi are both above him in the Under-21 team pecking order, leaving Baird with little room to progress.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Alex_Baird_is_nearing_the_end_of_his_contract_at_Elland_Road\"><\/span>Alex Baird is nearing the end of his contract at Elland Road<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1170px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo courtesy: LUFC Youth on X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With his current contract expiring soon and no sign of renewal, the player and his agent are currently looking for new opportunities to play regular football.<\/p>\n<p>Leeds are reluctant to lose yet another raw talent, but sources close to the club have suggested they would not stand in the way if Baird decides to leave.<\/p>\n<p>His possible departure follows a recent trend at Elland Road, which has seen several young players leave in recent seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Relocation can be beneficial for both parties. Baird will have the chance to continue his development in a more competitive environment, while Leeds will be able to free up space in their academy for more promising players in their youth ranks.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Leeds have the option to trigger the striker clause in January <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leeds United are preparing for the departure of promising young goalkeeper Alex Baird, with multiple clubs monitoring his situation ahead of the January transfer window, according to Pete O&#8217;Rourke. The 18-year-old, who is yet to make a top-flight appearance for Leeds, is widely expected to leave Elland Road at the end of the season after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-26177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}