Minutes have never been a problem for Luke Ayling at Leeds United. In his first six seasons with the Whites, Ayling was never outside the club’s top 10 for pitch time, even when injuries hit.
The right-back has been at the core of the club’s rise from mid-table Championship mediocrity to a third-straight Premier League campaign. Now 31, vice-captain and a central figure in Jesse Marsch’s leadership council, 2022/23 is shaping up to be a year of transition for Ayling.
The arrival of Denmark’s Rasmus Kristensen combined with summer surgery has asked questions of Ayling and pushed him into a supporting role from the sidelines. Every coach will tell you they crave competition for places, but Marsch has an especially neat balancing act with such a senior figure in Ayling now asked to watch from the bench week by week.
