Two Leeds United players are out of contract next year and there are no guarantees either will stay on, at this stage

Daniel Farke’s deal is the main topic of contract discussion at Leeds United now. The noises are good but as it stands only eight months remains until his current terms run out.

There is confidence that an agreement will be formalised at some point, though. All the while, the 49ers will be mindful that two senior players see their contracts expire in June. From January onwards, they can speak with overseas clubs.

Lukas Nmecha is one of them. It is believed Leeds have an option to extend his deal by a year if all parties agree. That is not thought to be the case with Ilia Gruev.

Gruev has not played at all yet this season, having spent the first few weeks completing his return from a meniscus knee injury suffered back in April. Yet even when back fit, he faces a tough task to get minutes amid the form of other midfielders.

The Bulgarian is 26 and is in the early stages of his prime years. He remains the only natural defensive midfielder behind Ethan Ampadu. Gruev began 11 straight Premier League matches between January and March last season, so is admired by Farke.

But it is feasible he could have been on the exit list but for his injury, if another midfielder was signed. This for Nmecha always seemed less likely.

Ultimately, his importance has grown given Leeds have fewer centre-forwards this season amid Joel Piroe’s loan to West Ham United. No replacement was brought in.

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Nmecha scored seven goals last season, and Farke recently eulogised over this and what the striker offers Leeds. He is a firm back-up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin but could have hopes pinned on him should his colleague be ruled out for a sustained period of time.

Leeds Live asked readers to vote on whether they would hand either player a new contract as things currently stand. More than 2,000 fans cast their vote and there was a wide split of opinion.

A total of 32% said they would hand both players new deals amid the current status quo. But a marginal majority of 33% said they would not give either of them fresh contracts.

A portion of 19% said they would just hand Nmecha a new deal and 16% said they would only give a new one to Gruev. So it seems the jury is still out.

It underscores the ambiguity hanging over them and how they are seen by the fanbase. Certain supporters may be concerned by safety-proofing the squad amid tight numbers while others may be more eager to offload players they deem not part of their long-term vision.

Ultimately, what happens over these next eight months will dictate the 49ers’ final decision. Having handed out deals to Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle and Brenden Aaronson but no one else, Nmecha and Gruev are effectively on trial, it would seem.