Liam Cooper continues to be one of Leeds United’s three unsigned players. The Whites announced their retained list nearly a month ago, indicating that negotiations were still in progress for new contracts with Cooper, Jamie Shackleton, and Cody Drameh.
Sam Byram was the only player in the first team nearing the end of his contract who has agreed to a new one; his deal had an automatic trigger because of how many appearances he made the previous season.
Leeds is now in its second day of preseason play, but Cooper, Shackleton, and Drameh have not yet formally made their decisions.
Currently, it seems likely that both Shackleton and Drameh will depart; the former is nearing a deal with a different club, and the latter was never supposed to take it in the first place.
Cooper decides whether to accept Leeds’ contract offer.
Cooper’s decision had been delayed because he was traveling with the Scotland group to Germany for Euro 2024.
However, he has had ample time to decide whether or not to commit to Leeds for an 11th season now that Scotland has been out from the competition for a week.
All the indications over the past several months have been that this year will be his final one at Elland Road, and TeamTalk claims that to be the case.
There is a disagreement regarding the duration of the deal being given, so even if the offer is still on the table, Cooper is reportedly not expected to sign it.
In order to safeguard his long-term future, the 32-year-old is holding out for a two-year extension, even if Leeds is only willing to grant him a one-year one.
He will now be free to join with another club, with choices on the table, as it is now “unlikely” that the two sides will come to an agreement.
Who has recently expressed interest in Cooper?
Cooper was really given the chance to sign with Al-Qadsiah, a Saudi Arabian team, last summer, but he chose to stay at Leeds instead.
It will be fascinating to see if that option is still available after their season-long promotion to the Saudi Pro League.
Daniel Farke’s lack of playing time led to Blackburn Rovers being mooted as a possible destination in January, but he again turned it down.
Another team that was linked throughout the winter was Stoke City.
