Sol Bamba sure he still has big role to play at Leeds United, despite rival offers

The 31-year-old, who sealed a permanent move to Leeds from Palermo last summer, was also on the radar of some continental clubs. But Bamba – who missed the recent draw at Brentford after returning to France for family reasons – has been told he has a big role to play at Leeds and remains settled in West Yorkshire.

He said: “It’s always nice to have clubs after you, but from day one the manager and chairman told me I wasn’t going to go anywhere.

“I knew then that it would be difficult to go. It’s passed, I have to move on and get on with it.

“It’s a mixed feeling because at some point, when I was talking with my family, they were saying it’s maybe best for me to move, but I’m settled here, I’m happy and I’ve just bought a house. I didn’t want to go too far.

“If you’re looking football-wise, then playing for a Premier League club or somewhere abroad would have been nice, but I’ve got a big role to play here.

“My agent has been in contact with a few clubs and the club’s been in touch with some other clubs as well, but they were clear straight away that I wasn’t going anywhere, so it never really crossed my mind.

“I wasn’t going to behave badly to make sure I left left or anything like that. I’m here and I move on.

“When there were rumours that I was going the lads were saying to me that it was going to be difficult for them. That touched me a bit. It must mean I’m doing a good job (as captain).”

Head coach Steve Evans remains coy as to whether he will re-visit his interest in Norwich striker Kyle Lafferty when the emergency loan window opens next week. Leeds failed to broker a loan switch for Lafferty on deadline day, with the Canaries holding out for a permanent move.

Evans said: “I can’t really rule it in because I don’t know what Alex Neil’s thoughts would be. We will have to revisit whether it would be right for us to do it on a short term as opposed to the end of the season that we wanted to do.”

Meanwhile, Evans says he is confident that Chris Wood will not be out for an extended spell, despite the Kiwi facing another two weeks sidelined with a new hamstring injury.