Junior Firpo's time at Leeds United has been stop-start so far. The full back joined from Barcelona early in the summer for a fee of £13million and was expected to be an upgrade on Ezgjan Alioski on the left side of defence.
However, he has struggled to consistently produce good form which hasn't been helped by injuries.
Firpo is expected to return from his latest injury this weekend, after missing the last three Premier League fixtures due to a hamstring injury sustained in the first half of the 3-2 win over West Ham United in January.
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With Stuart Dallas picking up an injury that forced him off in the first ten minutes of the 3-0 loss away at Everton last weekend, Marcelo Bielsa needs to see consistency of form and fitness from the left back.
Dallas has always been the cover at left back, should Firpo pick up an injury and we have yet to hear from Bielsa concerning the Northern Irishman's injury but given that it looked like a muscle injury, it seems likely that he is now due to spend some time on the sidelines, despite being an ever-present over the last season and a half.
With that being the case, if Firpo struggles for form, or picks up another injury, Leeds are left with Pascal Struijk and Leo Hjelde as their options at left back.
Both have filled the role for short times this season and performed admirably but it's clear that they are centre backs operating in an auxiliary role, rather than somebody comfortable bombing up and down the pitch from the left back position.
Thus far, Firpo has not managed more than four starts in a row since coming to Elland Road. This is the time the club really need him to rack up a streak of starts. As well as that, they could really do with seeing more from him in an attacking sense.
It's fair to say that he has left something to be desired defensively at times this season, with his first-half performance against Tariq Lamptey at Brighton sticking in the memory.
However, he has come into a unique defensive system due to Bielsa's unwavering commitment to man-marking and this takes some adjustment. He will need more time to become fully comfortable with that side of the game at Leeds.
However, more has been expected of him when it comes to attacking, particularly given that his reputation at Real Betis and Barcelona was as a player who could burst to the byline with power and pick quality cutbacks for his teammates to finish.
At Leeds, he has no goals or assists so far, which is a real downgrade, considering Alioski contributed two goals and three assists last season.
Before his latest injury at the London Stadium, Firpo was beginning to show signs of finding higher performance levels. If he does return to the team this weekend, Leeds will hope that he can slot back in at the same level and kick on from there.
As it has been a difficult season for the club as a whole, their new left back finally finding his feet would make a real difference.
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