The left-back remains in talks over the possibility of a new contract at Leeds United.
Junior Firpo will make history as part of the first Dominican Republic side to take part in a major tournament this summer – but he could end up doing so without a club to his name.
Firpo has been called up to the Dominican Republic squad for a busy summer, with two 2026 World Cup qualifiers followed by their inaugural participation in the Concacaf Gold Cup. Los Quisqueyanos are in qualifying action against Guatemala on Friday June 6 and Dominica on Tuesday June 10.
The Dominican Republic then head to Los Angeles for their first ever Gold Cup fixture against current holders Mexico on Saturday June 14. Firpo and his compatriots also have fixtures against Costa Rica and Suriname – who Leeds teammate Joel Piroe recently turned down an opportunity to represent – to look forward to, with more to come if they qualify for the knockout stages.
Should the Caribbean side earn a top-two spot in their Gold Cup group – and they are certainly in with a chance, given recent form – then some potentially huge knockout ties could be there for Firpo and co. to enjoy. Alongside Group A rivals Mexico are the likes of the US Men’s National Team and Jesse Marsch’s Canada.
Six wins from six Nations League B Group D matches earned the Dominican Republic their first ever ticket to a major tournament, which is to be held across the United States and Canada. And Firpo played a starring role throughout, scoring plenty of goals and often playing in a front three, leaning on the attacking instincts that earned him 14 league goal contributions for Leeds last season.
But the 28-year-old could end up in the unusual position of playing international football without a domestic club to call his own, with a contract at Elland Road due to expire this summer. Leeds’ retained list, sent to the EFL and published on Saturday afternoon, confirmed discussions were ongoing over a possible extension but his future remains up in the air.
Junior Firpo future latest amid Leeds United contract talks
Firpo told the YEP in the days following last month’s promotion he was no clearer regarding what path Leeds wanted to take, with talks on hold until the Championship title was won. Since then, it has been relative silence but for media reports of interest from elsewhere and the defender’s appearance in an alcohol-infused Instagram Live broadcast by Jayden Bogle in which he told Paraag Marathe to ‘send the ting’.
“Leeds, I’ve been here four years now, four seasons, and my family love it here, I love it here,” Firpo told the YEP last month. “My kids have grown up learning to do everything here. The city is great. I think I have a pretty good relationship with the fans at the minute. And obviously it is not a thing that I can say, that the last time in the Prem was good. I know it wasn’t good, but people need to know a lot of things.
“They just see me perform, but they don’t know the amount of injuries that I was getting. And every time that I was recovering, I was straight back into the starting XI. This is not healthy for a player. The amount of times that I had COVID, I was in and out, and I feel like the situation in the club wasn’t as good as it is now. So I think in this position now it is much, much different.
“Also, it might be something that I would like to do, you know, going to the Prem and playing at a good level to say that I’m Prem-proven and let people know this. But as I said let’s see what happens, I don’t know what’s going to happen but I just wanted to say this.”
