Leeds United were initially ‘wary’ of handing Sam Byram a permanent contract in the summer.
That is according to Phil Hay of the Athletic, who says the initial message from the club was that he was at Thorp Arch to solely build his fitness in order to find him a club.
With Byram having spent several years at Leeds earlier in his career, as well as his relationship with new manager Daniel Farke, it would’ve certainly made sense for this to be the case.
The 30-year-old has been ravaged by serious injury problems in the years since his Leeds exit in January 2016, which, of course, is why they were initially sceptical of signing him.
However, Byram was able to prove his fitness by getting through every session and friendly without getting injured, prompting Leeds to hand him a one-year-deal on the eve of the Championship opener against Cardiff City.
Leeds completely changed their mind on Byram deal
Byram has been superb since re-joining Leeds in August and has now firmly established himself as Farke’s first choice left-back.
So far, Byram has picked up just one minor injury which kept him out of the draw with Sheffield Wednesday earlier this month.
This has prompted Leeds to manage him carefully, with Byram actually telling Farke before last week’s draw at Hull City he was not ready to play three 90 minutes in six days.
Byram was certainly missed at the MKM Stadium, with Farke having described his performances this season as ‘top class’, but Leeds can ill afford to lose him for a sustained period amid Junior Firpo’s ongoing injury issues.
He is now looking like one of the smartest pieces of business Leeds did all summer amid the initial wariness over handing him a deal.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
