The Whites pushed hard for the duo but couldn’t get a deal for either over the line.
Highlights
Leeds United pursued Charlie Taylor and Luke Thomas, but were unable to seal deals.
Burnley had no appetite to negotiate a deal for Taylor and Leicester didn’t want to loan Thomas to a league rival.
Leeds are still interested in addressing the left-back position.
Leeds United were aggressive in their pursuit of Burnley’s Charlie Taylor and Sheffield United summer signing Luke Thomas, according to Ben Jacobs who spoke to Give Me Sport.
However, the Whites were unable to get a deal sealed for either player in the summer, with the Clarets only having a limited number of left-back options and the Blades able to offer something that Leeds couldn’t: Premier League football.
Ian Maatsen looked destined to return to Turf Moor following the end of his loan spell there – but a permanent deal never materialised in the end and Vincent Kompany’s side didn’t bring in a natural left-back during the summer.
In the end, that could have been the key reason why the Whites never managed to agree a deal to bring their former defender back to Elland Road.
Thomas, meanwhile, had been frozen out at Leicester City with Callum Doyle and James Justin able to operate on the left-hand side.
Sheffield United were arguably in need of addressing their left wing-back department before they recruited Thomas because Enda Stevens had left the club, Rhys Norrington-Davies has spent a lot of time out injured with a serious setback and Max Lowe doesn’t have the best injury record.
What’s the state of play at left-back at Leeds United?
Sam Byram, Junior Firpo and Leo Hjelde can all operate in the left-back area – but Byram’s injury record is iffy, Firpo has been out injured and isn’t the most popular figure at Elland Road and Hjelde isn’t that experienced and was linked with a move away from West Yorkshire in the summer.
With this, the Whites were and still are interested in addressing this area, though they will be consigned to using the free agent market until January when the winter window opens.
Luke Ayling or Djed Spence could potentially operate on the left with both wanting to secure a decent amount of first-team football this term – but Daniel Farke may want to have a more natural option in this area.
What did Ben Jacobs say about Leeds United’s pursuit of Charlie Taylor and Luke Thomas?
With Leeds wanting a left-back, they targeted Taylor who operated mainly as a centre-back last season but is a natural left-back. Thomas, meanwhile, is a left-back but can also be effective as a wing-back.
Speaking about the Whites’ pursuit of the duo, Jacobs said: “Their two main options in the final days and weeks in the window were Luke Thomas at Leicester – multiple approaches were made but Leicester had no desire to loan to a Championship rival, so he ended up going to Sheffield United.
“And Charlie Taylor at Burnley could have returned to Leeds as well, but there was no appetite on the Burnley part either.
“So Leeds tried, they were quite aggressive in their approach, particularly for Thomas, because they knew the urgency. But, they just couldn’t get that deal over the line.”
Will either Charlie Taylor or Luke Thomas rue not making the move to Leeds United?
As long as Thomas is a regular starter at Bramall Lane, he surely won’t regret making the move to the Blades because he will get the chance to operate at a higher level.
Of course, there would have been the chance for him to compete for promotion at Elland Road, but he will want to be operating at the highest level and this is why a switch to South Yorkshire has to be seen as a real positive for him.
Taylor will probably want to seal a return to Elland Road at some point.
But with Burnley only having a limited number of left-back options, Taylor may get the opportunity to play regularly at Turf Moor this term.
If he does, that will be a positive and he would probably choose playing in the top flight over playing for Leeds right now.
