2024 has been the year of fringe players coming to the fore at Leeds United.
During the final couple of months of 2023, Daniel Farke had found a really settled starting XI but back-to-back losses over the festive period forced him to undergo somewhat of a rethink.
Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo and Willy Gnonto have all stepped up to the plate in the last few weeks, but there is perhaps one man who stands above everyone else.
That is Ilia Gruev. Gruev had started just two matches in four months following his late summer arrival from Werder Bremen on deadline day, but has not come out of the side in any competition since the 3-0 win at Peterborough United in the FA Cup at the beginning of January.
The jury had very much still been out on Gruev by that point but that is completely the opposite now, with pundit Jon Newsome saying on BBC Radio Leeds after Tuesday night’s win he has really turned it around.
Newsome hails Gruev resurgence
He said: “He has really impressed me. When he first came in I thought he struggled a little bit and didn’t look like he had legs, he looked like he struggled to get around the park.
“He doesn’t look like he struggles to get around the park now. The way he uses the ball, his awareness of what is around him, he always has a pass on. Outstanding.”
His recent performances make it all the more confusing as to why he didn’t get more of a chance in the first half of the season. As per Sofa Score, his pass completion rate has dropped below 90 per cent just once in nine starts.
Gruev himself admitted that he found it tough at the start at Leeds, but it has to be said now, that it is difficult to imagine a starting XI that does not include him in it.
The 23-year-old has even been likened to David Batty by Dominic Matteo and that just goes to show the level of impact he has had on Leeds’ form over the last few weeks.
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