Republic of Ireland international midfielder Eunan O’Kane is currently in contract talks with the club over a new deal after impressing in pre-season and on the opening day at Bolton. O’Kane has less than 12 months remaining on his current deal and has pushed his way to the front of the queue in the most competitive position at the club.
The central midfielder signed from Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee last season just after the opening to the campaign. He started his first game at home to Blackburn Rovers, a crucial game after such a bad start by Leeds under Garry Monk. O’Kane was a key figure in the game that Leeds won, and it started the run that, with a few interruptions didn’t finish until the back end of January. O’Kane was one of the players who played most minutes during that spell, playing alongside both Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira with Liam Bridcutt side lined with injury. O’Kane then picked up an injury himself and was replaced in the side by Bridcutt, and it’s fair to say that things went downhill.
He returned to the fold at the back-end of the season but Garry Monk refused to give him a run in the side and Bridcutt partnered either Phillips or Vieira for the majority of games towards the end. O’Kane was visibly frustrated in interviews the summer and wasn’t happy with the treatment he got from Monk during the poor spell for the side. He said he couldn’t understand why Monk wouldn’t play him despite the poor run and it left him feeling low at times during that time. It seems he has a new lease of life under Thomas Christiansen and a new deal looks set to be offered to the midfielder, who is showing on the pitch he is well worth the new deal that should come his way.
