Leeds: Farke may avoid a £20,000-per-week responsibility after signing Spence.
Leeds haven’t had the finest start to their Championship season.
The arrival of Djed Spence at Leeds might give Daniel Farke the green light to fire an underperforming player.
It could be the end of the road for one of the club’s longest-serving players, who earns £20,000 per week.
He’s been ‘terrible’ at times in the previous 18 months or so.
Leeds United haven’t had the best start to the 2023/24 season following their relegation from the Premier League.
Daniel Farke will be hoping to lead the club back to the promised land, but with only one win in four Championship games and a humiliating penalty shootout loss to Salford City in the League Cup, the heat is on the former Norwich City manager.
Summer additions include Joel Piroe, Ethan Ampadu, and Glen Kamara, demonstrating that there is no lack of quality in the team, but Farke must drop a few players who have underperformed recently, one of them is defender Luke Ayling.
Why has Luke Ayling not been performing well?
Since joining the Elland Road club in the summer of 2016, the 32-year-old has made over 250 appearances and played a crucial role in the team’s promotion to the Premier League for the 2019/20 season.
Despite his dedication to the club, it’s evident that the £20k-per-week liability hasn’t been at his best recently, particularly during the club’s relegation from the top division in 2022/23.
As Leeds conceded 78 goals, the right-back placed 20th in the squad for overall Sofascore rating (6.6), while ranking 11th for accurate passes (20.8), sixth for tackles (2.3), and 11th for interceptions (0.9) per game.
As recently as March, journalist Tomi Oladipo reported that “Ayling has been awful for a long time but…sentiment.” suggesting how bad he had been in the months prior.
With Farke bringing in Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence on loan for the season, may Ayling’s time at the club be coming to an end sooner rather than later?
What does Djed Spence have to offer Leeds United?
The 23-year-old joined Spurs for £20 million last summer after a successful run at Nottingham Forest, where he helped the club reach the Premier League for the first time this century, but his time in London was a nightmare.
He started zero games for the club, only appearing as a substitute six times, and was quickly loaned out to French side Rennes in January, where he played ten games, and it’s clear that the transfer to Leeds might revitalize him.
During his time at Forest, he demonstrated his excellent attacking abilities, finishing in the top ten for goals and assists (eight), fifth for big chances created (five), sixth for key passes per game (one), and third for successful dribbles per game (1.8), and these qualities could provide Farke with an additional attacking option from defense.
Ayling, on the other hand, was seventh in goals and assists (four), fifth in major chances created (four), and 14th in important passes per game (0.5).
During the same campaign, Spence finished third in successful dribbles per game (0.9), indicating that he would be an upgrade, at least from an attacking standpoint.
Farke should make Spence his first-choice right-back, and while Ayling has started the season well, scoring once and assisting once, some fresh talent could ensure the manager eventually gets rid of his aging full-back.
