Now worth more than Ampadu: Leeds must rue letting go of a "monster" for £0
da cassino： Leeds United had to put out a statement to defend their captain, Ethan Ampadu, after his former partner posted a picture of their child in a Galatasaray shirt.
da stake casino： The Whites pointed out that they are separated and that the Wales international is sensitive to the situation, and that he did not have any responsibility for the image being published on social media.
It is a shame that this situation has created problems for Ampadu after what was a truly brilliant season from the versatile star, who is now a hugely valuable asset for the club.
Ethan Ampadu's current market value
At the time of writing (19/06/2025), the Welsh star is valued at €16m (£13.4m) by Transfermarkt, which is significantly more than the fee the Whites paid for him in the summer of 2023.
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Leeds reportedly paid a fee of £7m to sign the defensive midfielder from Chelsea ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, and he is now worth almost twice as much, thanks to his form for the club in the Championship.
Ampadu has made 84 appearances in all competitions for the West Yorkshire outfit in that time, helping the team to keep 35 clean sheets in the second tier.
There is a former Leeds defender, though, who is now worth even more than the Wales international, having left the club on a free transfer last year – Robin Koch.
Robin Koch's current market value
The Whites swooped to sign the German defender from Freiburg for an initial fee of £11.5m in the summer of 2020 and he went on to play 77 times for the club across three seasons at Elland Road.
After Leeds were relegated from the Premier League, Koch opted to join Eintracht Frankfurt on loan for the 2023/24 campaign until his contract ran out in the summer of 2024.
This meant that the towering centre-back, once dubbed a “monster” by winger Vincenzo Grifo, left to sign for Frankfurt on a free transfer last year, and that has turned out to be an absolute bargain for the German side.
Robin Koch
22/23 Premier League
24/25 Bundesliga
Appearances
36
30
Goals
0
3
Dribbled past per game
0.9x
0.4x
Clearances per game
4.1
6.5
Aerial duel success rate
62%
67%
Duels won per game
5.2
4.7
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Koch’s performances for Frankfurt in the Bundesliga this season have been far more impressive than his displays for Leeds in the Premier League were, which has led to interest from elsewhere.
Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg recently reported that Bayer Leverkusen are prepared to trigger his release clause, which is worth up to €20m (£16.8m), whilst Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig are also interested in signing him.
This shows that Koch’s value has soared since his exit from Leeds because he is now worth far more than the £11.5m that the club paid for him in 2020, and obviously more than the £0 they got back for his services in 2020.
The Whites, therefore, may rue how his situation unfoded because they were unable to extract a transfer fee from his exit, as he ran his contract down, and now he is closing in on a big-money move for even more than club captain Ampadu is worth.
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