Ikke store sjansen for at vi får se Somma i en Leeds-drakt igjen...
Leeds United boss Brian McDermott says he will help striker Davide Somma return to full fitness but the club will not be offering him a new deal.
The South African international striker has had a retched two seasons with injuries and the club announced they would release him this summer as he comes to the end of his current deal with the club.
Somma is currently overcoming his latest setback, after suffering a cartilage injury in the game with Burnley in April and he once again had to go under the surgeon`s knife.
McDermott says they will help Somma during the summer to regain his fitness and hope that a club come in for him.
Speaking in the Yorkshire Evening Post, McDermott said, "He`s a great guy who`s been really unlucky. I spoke to Harvey (Sharman, United`s head physiotherapist) and we agreed that we wanted to do the right thing by him.
"We`ll look after him, try to get him fit and if something comes up for him elsewhere, we`ll try to make sure that nothing stops him taking up the opportunity."
McDermott indicated at the end of last season that he would give Somma the opportunity to prove himself in pre-season and he could still have a future at the club. The Leeds boss now says it is highly unlikely, "I think realistically that`s not going to happen. You never say never in football but that`s not necessarily how we were thinking," continued McDermott.
The 28-year-old looked like he had a bright future at Leeds after originally signing in 2009. Manager Simon Grayson sent him out on loan to get used to the English game and he enjoyed a very successful loan spell with League Two side Lincoln City where he netted 9 times in 14 games. His form at Lincoln had shown Grayson enough to reward him with a new one-year deal and he took his opportunity the following season.
He scored twice on his championship debut for Leeds when he came on as a late substitute against Millwall. He netted four times in his first four games and his early season form earned him a new three-year deal.
Despite being mainly used as a substitute in his first full season, he netted 12 times in 32 appearances with only 13 being starts.
Somma suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in a practice match in pre-season, an injury that saw him miss the whole season. He was twice on the verge of a first team comeback but he suffered setbacks and complications with his knee.
He finally returned as a substitute against Middlesbrough in December after over 18-months out. In his second appearance from the bench against Nottingham Forest, he scored his first game in almost two years.
Somma made a rare start in Leeds next game at Hull City but he continued to struggle with his original injury and after coming off the bench against Birmingham and Tottenham in January, he was sidelined for almost three months as the injury flared up once again.
It looked like he was going to get a chance to show McDermott what he could do in the final few games of the season when he returned to the squad against Sheffield Wednesday. He came off the bench in the next game against Burnley for the final few minutes but once again, the injury flared up forcing him to require more surgery.
Somma scored 13 goals in 39 appearances during his time at Leeds with 17 of those appearances coming from the bench.
Read more:
http://www.leeds.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=321332#ixzz2VYpqblJ6
