Daniel Farke reveals young Leeds United striker has asked for a transfer move.

Leeds United boss Daniel Farke has revealed that young Whites striker Mateo Joseph has requested a transfer move and wishes to return to Spain.

Transcript

00:00He isn't in Germany with you, is that a telling sign of where his future lies?

00:03Yeah, as you know, so I always like to be honest, it was actually the plan to have him here in Germany

00:09and with him the situation is also quite clear, first of all, we really value and rate him

00:17otherwise we wouldn't have played him, especially in the beginning of the last successful campaign

00:23ahead of a gold boot winner, Joel Piro, ahead of an experienced striker like Patrick Bamford

00:28I think overall he had last season, if I'm not completely wrong, 39 appearances for us in the championship

00:35I think double figures of appearances in the starting lineup

00:39you just do this with a 20-year-old guy or meanwhile 21-year-old guy

00:43when you believe in him and trust him and back him

00:46so it's a sign of how much we value him and what we see in him

00:50yes, nevertheless he came to me and to us and has said that he wants a new challenge

00:56and would like to have a move, he has also hinted that he wants and prefers a move to Spain

01:06due to his Spanish roots and yes, obviously that was more or less his call and I said okay

01:16we just want players who are excited about the project to play with Leeds United in the best league in the world

01:21here in the Premier League who want to be here with us and want to be successful with us

01:28and if this is more or less your wish, I as a manager won't stand in the way and accept this

01:34because I just want players who want to be here and are buzzing anyhow that we can represent this club on Premier League level

01:41and for that I've said okay Matteo, I accept this, I won't stand in the way

01:46on the other hand, it's also clear that we as a club have invested a lot in him

01:52time, money, backing, whatever and he is on a long-term contract and we value him

01:58one thing is also for sure that we will just make a move possible once there is a club who meets the expectations

02:06of the club but this is not a topic for me, this is not a topic for our board and our key people

02:12to decide okay what is the right value because I don't pay the players, I don't buy the players

02:18sadly I don't have enough money so it's then definitely up to the club and up to the board to make the decisions

02:24I won't stand in the way but of course I think our club has then also expectations

02:29and the truth is that no other club has met the expectations yet

02:33and for that he's still our player and for that we expected him also like to train and travel with us

02:40yes but yeah he mentioned that he didn't feel ready for the trip to Stockholm to play Man United

02:49I accepted and I accepted this because he trained a bit or started a bit later with the training

02:54I think that was also understandable but then the day after we expected him to be with us here more or less

03:01in Germany he said also like he didn't doesn't feel ready due to the situation to travel and to train

03:08and yeah to play the friendlies here in Germany and this is not a situation I like

03:15I've also spoke open and honest about him with him about the situation and have strongly recommended

03:21to say no no till a situation is sorted and I would strongly recommend to do the job and to be professional

03:29but he said okay he's not in the mental state in order to do this and yeah what should I do

03:35I can't call the police or the frontal police to drag him here on the training pitch

03:39it was his decision and for that he trains at the moment at the moment in England

03:44individually and will then also train with the under 21 at home at Thorpe Arch and we are here without him

03:51thank you