Leeds United have by and large recruited remarkably ever since the arrival of Victor Orta, who handed Marcelo Bielsa the necessary additions for the club to finally return to the Premier League in 2020.
They would add to those successes with further signings like Raphinha, who they signed for £17m and later sold on for £55m.
However, one position they still seem unable to solve is left-back, with the Spanish director of football having been unable to secure a reliable successor to Ezgjan Alioski.
Junior Firpo was thought to be the answer, but the £42k-per-week defender has grossly disappointed since moving to Elland Road, which has culminated in his 6.30 average rating from Sofascore this season.
Whilst the search continues and the rumour mill swirls, Southampton full-back Romain Perraud has recently come out to suggest that he was nearly brought in as the Whites’ long-term solution.
Having initially been a target for Orta before he moved to St Mary’s, the Frenchman stated: “In January or February 2021, I was approached by Leeds and Southampton… Leeds contacted me first, but negotiations came to a halt quite suddenly. Southampton were very keen and I was immediately attracted by the project.”
It seems that something caused the Whites to pull out from this deal, which has turned into a foolish move given how the 25-year-old seems to get better with each passing week.
Suffering a tough debut season in the Premier League, where he was handed a 6.58 average rating from Sofascore, this campaign has been far more successful for Perraud (6.75 rating) despite Southampton’s poor league position.
The defender boasts four goal contributions alongside 1.9 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game, with his work rate having been lauded by Ralph Hasenhuttl before the ex-Saints manager’s sacking last month.
He described Perraud as: “A hard worker, offensively with some good habits, quick player, left foot and right foot.”
The Austrian continued: “Defensively is a guy who likes to defend on the front foot. A little bit similar to Kyle (Walker-Peters) on the right side.”
It seems that this was a massively missed opportunity for Leeds to secure an up-and-coming defender who had been named in the Ligue 1 team of the season before his move to England.
Instead, the search goes on to allow Jesse Marsch to finally ditch Firpo.
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