Laurens De Bock is showing his Championship employers Leeds United that he is more than just a left-back during his spell in the Belgian Jupiler League.
Laurens De Bock struggled to nail down a place at left-back after arriving at Leeds United in January for £1.5 million.
The former Club Brugge defender started just seven Championship games before seeing his debut season cut short by injury. And it is fair to say the Belgian did not look like Charlie Taylor’s successor, toiling as Leeds conceded four times at home to both Millwall and Cardiff.
There was little surprise, then, when De Bock was loaned back to Belgium over the summer, especially after Leeds shelled out £5 million to sign Barry Douglas from Wolves.
But, since returning to the Jupiler League with KV Oostende, De Bock has shown a different side to his game. It turns out that he is not just an average left-back after all.
De Bock started at centre-half in Oostende’s narrow 1-0 defeat to Sint Truiden before the international break. And he featured in another new position on Saturday, starting in an advanced left midfield role in a 1-1 home draw with Cercle Brugge.
In De Bock’s first two games for Oostende, he has not played in his natural position. Leeds, then, should be keeping a close eye on a player who could perhaps prove useful to Marcelo Bielsa as an all-round utility player.
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