Another young centre-back could have what it takes to ultimately excel at Leeds United.
During Leeds United’s early pre-season matches, both Paudie O’Connor and Conor Shaughnessy were given the chance to impress. But by the time the Whites headed to Austria for their summer tour, only the latter was still in contention.
We all know what happened next, with Shaughnessy excelling at centre-back (despite being more commonly known as a midfielder), featuring regularly for Leeds once the competitive action kicked off and earning a new contract in the process.
It is a wonderful story, and one that O’Connor will be hoping to enjoy for himself in due course. After all, had things been a little different this summer, it could be the former Limerick man instead of Shaughnessy who got the chance to impress alongside the likes of Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper.
And even though O’Connor has had to make do with under-23 football, the 20-year-old will have seen Shaughnessy’s emergence and focused on replicating it.
O’Connor only arrived at Leeds last March and he would have known it would take a while to settle in his new surroundings and stake a claim for first-team football.
That said, Shaughnessy is only one year older and, with a new manager coming in, both players had an equal chance of impressing from the outset.
Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen obviously saw something in Shaughnessy, moving him further back and watching him shine, yet the Whites have another promising centre-back in the form of O’Connor and in time he should build on the 39 appearances he had already managed back in Ireland.
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