Leeds United might not have won on their return to action in the Championship, but they are still strong favourites to return to the top flight for next season.
Once there, Leeds will need to recruit well to ensure it’s not a short stay, which in particular will mean replacing Ben White, whose loan spell from Brighton & Hove Albion will end and leave a big hole in Marcelo Bielsa’s defence.
One player who has been regularly linked with a move to Elland Road over the past few months is Middlesbrough’s Daniel Ayala.
LeedsLive understand that the Spanish centre-back is not believed to be a target, but is he the kind of player the club should be targeting?
Here are the factors for and against such a move.
Pro: free transfer
The economic landscape of the football world might be much-changed in 2020 and beyond, with financial uncertainty arising due to no crowds, potential restructured broadcast deals and more.
Prudence dictates clubs will look to limit their spending over the summer, so looking for players out of contract is a natural way to balance the need to recruit without overpaying.
Ayala’s contract is up this summer at Boro and he has already told the club he won’t be extending, so in July he’s free to depart and sign elsewhere. Getting the first piece of summer business out of the way early is another positive.
Con: long-term injury
Ayala has played just once in 2020, a half-hour outing on New Year’s Day.
He was taken off injured against Preston North End and hasn’t featured in almost six months since, with a recent return to group training being hampered by soreness in his affected ankle.
Presumably that now won’t be cleared up entirely by his current club, and Ayala will join a new team still needing an element of rehabilitation over the summer to ensure he’s fit and ready for pre-season.
Assuming no long-term ill-effects, it shouldn’t be a major concern, but there’s still the fact he’ll need quite some time to recover rhythm and sharpness in his game to consider.
Pro: experienced defender...
Aged 29, Ayala would be being signed as someone to contribute immediately and regularly across the course of the season. His six years at Boro have been spent as first choice, earning him well over 200 games for the club.
He has also been the captain most games this season, an indication of his leadership and quality given his manager, Jonathan Woodgate, knows a thing or two about being a top central defender himself.
Ayala has the maturity and mentality to cope with a move to a demanding club looking to progress further, and plenty of attributes which would support him moving into the Premier League.
Con: ...but not at the top level
That said, the vast majority of his career has been spent in the second tier of English football.
A few brief appearances with Liverpool came in the Premier League right at the beginning of his career, while he also had two part-seasons with Norwich City and Boro in the top flight.
All told, Ayala has 26 games and a single goal in the highest division, the bulk of which came three years ago. It’s at least something to build on, and he has always had the capacity to play at that level, but it wouldn’t be a case of Leeds adding established experience from the Premier League to their squad.
Pro: Consistency of quality
Most important to consider is arguably whether or not the player is good enough, and Ayala surely scores well in that regard.
He’s a well-respected defender and will have no shortage of offers if Leeds don’t make a suitable move, and even after not playing in the second half of the season he shows up well in defensive metrics against the rest of the league’s centre-backs.
Ayala has made the third-highest number of clearances per 90 minutes and averages 4.2 aerial duel wins per 90, a top-25 ranking in that regard among the regular Championship centre-backs.
He’s a well-rounded player, comfortable on the ball but not pretentious about his play, and his quantifiable attributes as well as the mental side of his game make him a stand-out candidate to bring up to the Premier League with the rest of the Leeds squad this summer — especially on a free.
