Leeds: £40k-a-week star has ‘slipped under the radar’ at Elland Road

Leeds United midfielder Marc Roca has ‘slipped under the radar’ since arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer, according to Sky Sports reporter Tim Thornton.

The 25-year-old has been impressive at the base of the west Yorkshire outfit’s engine room but perhaps hasn’t earned the plaudits that he deserves in the early stages of the season.

Leeds splashed out an initial £10 million to prise Roca away from the Allianz Arena and he signed a four-year contract as he went in search of regular first-team opportunities.

The former Spain Under-21 international was tasked with the daunting prospect of replacing fans’ favourite Kalvin Phillips, but so far, he has shown he is capable of doing just that.

Jesse Marsch has selected Roca from the off in all of Leeds’ opening six Premier League games of the campaign, and his underlying numbers highlight his influence over proceedings.

As per WhoScored, the 6 foot ace has averaged two tackles, 0.5 blocks, one key pass, 1.2 shots and 2.8 long balls per top-flight fixture, placing him in the top five for each metric when compared to his teammates.

Roca scored his first goal for Leeds last time out against Brentford, and he’ll surely be hoping to build on an impressive start for the Whites.

Other new arrivals Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson have also shone for Leeds, but Thornton believes that Roca’s contributions have not been highlighted to the extent of his teammates.

In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “Roca is probably, of those three, he’s probably been the one that sort of slipped under the radar a little bit. But he’s done a really good job for the team.

“He’s been nice and solid in there, and he’s done a lot of the hard yards and a lot of good work, maybe without sort of