Phil Hay reveals behind-scenes transfer development, Leeds supporters will be buzzing - opinion

Phil Hay has dropped an update on Leeds United‘s pursuit of a new left-back in the summer transfer window.

In a recent article for The Athletic, the publication’s Leeds correspondent revealed that conversations between Victor Orta and his transfer team are now ongoing about signing a new player in that position this summer

That comes as a consequence of Junior Firpo’s hip injury after the 4-0 pre-season friendly victory over Blackpool last week, which will see the defender ruled out for eight weeks and subsequently miss the start of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.

Considering just how short Leeds have been on the left of their back four in recent years, Hay’s claim that Orta finally appears to be looking to address this issue ahead of the Whites’ upcoming campaign is sure to leave the Elland Road faithful buzzing.

Indeed, following the exits of both Ezgjan Alioski and Barry Douglas last summer, and with 22-year-old Leif Davis being sent on a season-long loan to Bournemouth, Leeds were left with just one natural left-back for the 2021/22 campaign – £12.8m summer signing Firpo.

To say that the 25-year-old enjoyed a poor debut season in LS11 would be something of an understatement, as the £10.8m-rated full-back scored no goals, registered two assists and created just three big chances over his 24 Premier League outings in 2021/22.

The £55k-per-week defender also did little to impress at the back, helping Leeds to keep just one clean sheet, in addition to being dribbled past 1.2 times, losing possession 9.2 times and committing 1.6 fouls per match.

These returns saw the Dominican Republic native average a disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.60, ranking him as Jesse Marsch’s seventh-worst performer in the league