Bournemouth star Chris Mepham was linked with a move to Leeds United in January in a move that would have seen a fifth Wales star play for Daniel Farke’s side – and he might wish he had joined.
Instead, Leeds only signed one player in the window despite losing nine men – including the likes of Luke Ayling, Djed Spence, Ian Poveda and more. Connor Roberts made his debut for Leeds on Saturday.
It does leave Leeds light at the back – with Sam Byram and Jamie Shackleton also missing for Tuesday night’s trip to Swansea. Archie Gray, Junior Firpo and Roberts remain our options at full-back tonight.
In the middle of the defence, Ethan Ampadu has deputised superbly for Pascal Struijk with the latter’s injury a whole lot worse than Farke first feared. Liam Cooper and Charlie Cresswell are on the bench.
Perhaps, Ampadu’s form – and in turn, Ilia Gruev’s form in midfield – has lessened the need for a centre-back. But Leeds certainly looked at a centre-back in January, and Mepham was a name that was linked.
Chris Mepham has barely played since Leeds links in January
The Wales star, and Joe Rodon’s centre-back partner with the National Team, has struggled for game time under Andoni Iraola. A £12m signing, labelled “fantastic” by Scott Parker while he was in charge.
Since the links with Leeds towards the start of January, Bournemouth have played five games in both the Premier League and FA Cup. Mepham has been used once, remaining an unused sub four times.
He remains on the fringes at Bournemouth and the chances are, if everyone remains fit at Bournemouth between now and the end of the season, he will get little more than scraps. He might be wishing he left.
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