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.
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Victor Orta saw potential for a reclamation project, having been a big fan of Firpo during his spell at Real Betis. Barca were happy to move the defender on and the Whites sporting director took a gamble on the basis he and Bielsa could reignite the left-back and develop him into a pivotal player.
Six weeks later Brighton signed Marc Cucurella from Getafe for £15.4million. Leeds were never linked with the Spanish left-back despite Orta’s Spanish connections, and his incredible rise at the AMEX - leading to Manchester City interest and a £50million price tag - suggests Leeds seriously missed a trick.
The 24-year-old was a prominent feature in Graham Potter’s Seagull’s last season, featuring 35 times as his side finished ninth. His performances on the south coast have made him a priority target for Pep Guardiola as he looks to replace the departing Oleksandr Zinchenko, but a contract until 2026 puts Brighton in the driving seat and Cucurella’s incredible rise means City could still cough up the cash.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, and no one at Elland Road could have forecasted Firpo’s stop-start season being impacted by a litany of niggling injuries and the affects of catching Covid-19, but Leeds’ failure to spot the Brighton left-back’s potential has led to another summer hunting for a new left-back.
Who Leeds decide to bring in at left-back this summer remains to be seen, but the club will look upon the scouting department at the AMEX with envy as they look set to cash in on another under-appreciated gem.
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