Luke Ayling is out for the rest of the Championship season but will Leeds United look to the Allsvenskan again for a new right-back?
How will Leeds United cope without the ever-present Luke Ayling on the right of their back four?
The defender had started every single Championship game since moving to Elland Road from Bristol City back in the summer of 2016, until suffering a serious injury in the goalless draw with Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day.
And, after undergoing surgery, Ayling will be out for the rest of the season, leaving Leeds’ full-back options a little sparse. Sure, Gaetano Berardi and fellow right-footer Vurnon Anita could fill in, but they might be needed on the left with no one quite sure how Laurens De Bock will adapt to English football.
So perhaps now might be the time for Leeds to have another look at long-standing target Linus Wahlqvist.
The Whites were first linked with the 21-year-old back in the autumn of 2016 via Voetbal Belgie and speculation remained throughout the first half of last year.
But after nailing down a place in the starting XI of Swedish side IFK Norrkoping, and adding to his growing number of international caps, it seems only a matter of time before Wahlqvist is plucked from the rather modest surroundings of the Allsvenskan.
Wahlqvist would, in many ways, be the typical Victor Orta signing – for better or for worse. Young, affordable and with plenty of room for improvement, he fits the bill.
And his long-awaited arrival would give Leeds some cover at right-back until Ayling returns or Lewie Coyle’s loan spell at Fleetwood Town comes to an end.
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