If Junior Firpo was hoping to eradicate the memories of his underwhelming debut season at Leeds United, then his demons came back to haunt him at the LNER Stadium in July 2022.
His pre-season lasted approximately 45 minutes, before he was hauled off with a serious knee injury shortly after scoring the second goal in a comprehensive 4-0 triumph over Championship opponents Blackpool.
Many believed the writing was on the wall for the former Barcelona left-back, who had suffered a number of niggling injuries, and a bout of Covid during his first year in the Premier League.
Firpo had also underwhelmed with his performances, and calls for a new left-back got increasingly louder as the summer transfer window progressed. But to the astonishment of Leeds supporters, Jesse Marsch chose not to invest in a new left-back, and even offloaded Leif Davis to Ipswich Town.
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Instead, Pascal Struijk was entrusted to fill the void, and did so in impressive fashion, as Leeds collected seven points from a possible nine in their opening three league games.
On the right, Danish international Rasmus Kristensen, who had just signed from Red Bull Salzburg, was showing signs that he too could oust Leeds stalwart Luke Ayling out of the starting XI.
Ayling missed the first five league games due to injury, but Kristensen retained his starting place in nine of the next 10 games, despite Ayling once again being available for selection.
By this time, Firpo had long returned from his spell on the sidelines, but was handed just one start over the course of four months. Marsch stuck with Struijk despite Leeds' faltering form, and Firpo was even subject to interest from clubs elsewhere in January.
Whilst Marsch showed unstinting loyalty to Struijk on the left, he was more open to change on the right. Kristensen was dumped out of the starting XI after a 3-1 defeat against Manchester City in December, and has not been presented with a single Premier League start since.
Ayling has played every minute for Leeds over the past eight league games, and was rewarded with a one-year contract extension to finally secure his future at the club.
Firpo has also experienced a revival of his own in recent weeks. Struijk was withdrawn after suffering concussion during Michael Skubala's first game as caretaker manager against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Firpo was introduced into the action.
Skubala then named Firpo in his starting line-up for the next three games, and Javi Gracia opted to stick with him again for his opening game against relegation rivals Southampton.
That decision was vindicated further when Firpo scored the decisive goal in the 77th minute to end Leeds' 10-match winless run in the Premier League, and lift them out of the bottom three.
Firpo still has a long way to go before he fully convinces the Leeds faithful at Elland Road, but with Ayling for inspiration, the former Spanish youth international can use the last third of the season to turn things around.
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