Left-back has been a perennial problem for Leeds United since Charlie Taylor’s departure for Burnley in 2017. Since then, a host of players have come and gone without making the spot their own, and it has been no different since the Whites were promoted to the Premier League.
Ezgjan Alioski provided a competent stand-in during the club’s first season back in the top-flight, playing 36 of the 38 league games, racking up two goals and three assists. But with a ninth-placed finish under their belts and the television revenue that came with it, Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa had to go into the summer of 2021 with a specialist left-back as a priority.
And they did, signing Junior Firpo for £13million at the start of July. The defender had spent two seasons at Barcelona but made just 24 league appearances as he failed to displace the ever-dependable Jordi Alba.
