Bamba leaves Leeds United

Bamba, 31, had fallen down the United pecking order at centre-back and failed to make the United match-day 18 for last Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Nottingham Forest.

The Whites were willing to listen to any potential interest in the defender on transfer deadline day but Wednesday night’s 11pm deadline passed with Bamba still at the club.

And now the defender’s shock departure has left Leeds with only three recognised centre-backs in Liam Cooper, Kyle Bartley and Pontus Jannson with the latter duo on loan respectively from Swansea City and Torino.

Bamba, who was under contract at Elland Road until next summer, leaves after making 56 appearances in all competitions for Leeds after arriving from Italian outfit Palermo in 2015, initially on loan.

A United club statement read: “The club would like to thank Sol for his contribution throughout his time here and wish him the very best of luck for the future.”