Junior Firpo’s emotional 10-word message to Leeds United fans – he could have played final game for the club..
Leeds United celebrated their Championship title win on Saturday.
Junior Firpo sent a heartfelt message out to Leeds United fans as the dust settled on Saturday’s Championship title celebrations, having potentially played his final game for the club.
Firpo was not involved in Saturday’s 2-1 comeback win over Plymouth Argyle due to a hamstring issue, with the left-back instead joining Dan James and Pascal Struijk in the away end as Leeds scored an added-time winner to claim the second-tier title. A Sam Byram own-goal handed Plymouth the lead inside 18 minutes but Willy Gnonto and Manor Solomon eventually sent the travelling support into ecstasy.
Leeds celebrated their dramatic title win in front of the Home Park away end and Firpo headed for the pitch to join his teammates, with club captain Ethan Ampadu lifting the trophy. Players and fans kept the party going long after full-time as the reality of a 100-point tally settled in.
Amid the celebrations, Leeds’ official X account posted a picture of Firpo sitting in front of the away fans with the Championship trophy, with his now infamous chant in the caption. And the defender responded, writing: “I just can’t tell you how much I love you”.
Some fans on social media viewed that heartfelt response as a possible goodbye, with Firpo out of contract this summer. The 28-year-old’s future has been a topic of conversation among supporters all season amid reports of interest from former club Real Betis.
Will Junior Firpo leave Leeds United this summer?
Leeds and Firpo have long maintained they will put contract talks aside until the campaign is over and with Saturday’s win their final game of the season, those discussions can take place. And speaking exclusively to the YEP last month, the Dominican Republic international suggested he would be open to the chance of proving himself in the Premier League.
“Last time that we spoke, I probably told you that I was focused on promotion. Promotion is done now. But I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said on his future. “I think it’s something to speak with the club about maybe when the season is done, you know, and they have more clear plans as well. Let’s see what happens.
“As I said before – Leeds, I’ve been here four years now, four seasons, and my family love it here, I love it here. My kids have grown up learning to do everything here. The city is great. I think I have a pretty good relationship with the fans at the minute. And obviously it is not a thing that I can say, that the last time in the Prem was good. I know it wasn’t good, but people need to know a lot of things. They just see me perform, but they don’t know the amount of injuries that I was getting. And every time that I was recovering, I was straight back into the starting XI. This is not healthy for a player.
“The amount of times that I had COVID, I was in and out, and I feel like the situation in the club wasn’t as good as it is now. So I think in this position now it is much, much different. Also, it might be something that I would like to do, you know, going to the Prem and playing at a good level to say that I’m Prem-proven and let people know this. But as I said let’s see what happens, I don’t know what’s going to happen but I just wanted to say this.”
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