The Leeds United defender has been back to his best in recent weeks.
With the January transfer window fast approaching, Leeds United fans will be hoping to see some new additions to a squad pushing hard for promotion. But has one player’s return to form ensured a new left-back is no longer on the agenda?
With loanee Cameron Borthwick-Jackson fading into obscurity and Vurnon Anita going from regular starter to forgotten man, Leeds manager Thomas Christiansen has relied on Gaetano Berardi at left-back for much of the season.
The problem is, the Swiss defender has not always replicated his best form and is prone to a disciplinary indiscretion or two, as his two-match suspension earlier in the campaign proved.
Yet since his return, Berardi has been in impressive form, to such an extent that Leeds may delay their search for a new out-and-out left- back until next summer.
With Anita, Borthwick-Jackson and Stuart Dallas all possible alternatives in the case of injury or additional suspension, Christiansen needs to decide whether Berardi is the man to play more often than not between now and May.
He showed against Norwich City on Saturday, as well as in recent games against Queens Park Rangers, Barnsley and Aston Villa, that he is ready to knuckle down and fight for the team.
At his best, Berardi is one of the first names on Leeds’ team sheet, and it will be interesting to see if his return to form forces a change of thinking in terms of January recruits.
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