‘I was lucky’: 21-year-old takes sly dig at Leeds after Elland Road exit

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Former Leeds United goalkeeper Elia Caprile has seemingly taken a dig at his former club after lauding Bari’s pitch to sign the 21-year-old in the summer transfer window.

Speaking to Media Gol, the Italian youngster was asked about his decision to leave Leeds for Bari last year, with Caprile praising the Serie B side’s belief in his abilities, which this season has resulted in the youngster being a regular for the Italian club.

Caprile said when asked about why he chose to leave Leeds for Bari last year during the transfer window: “Why the choice of Bari in the summer? They believed in me, I was lucky with this. Bari and sporting director Polito have believed in me.”

With Leeds having the youngest starting goalkeeper in the Premier League in Illan Meslier and Joel Robles being signed in the summer, it makes sense why Caprile made the decision to leave Yorkshire for good in favour of a return to Italy, where the 21-year-old has impressed.

Bari currently sit in the top-three with one of the best defensive records in all of Serie B, with Caprile conceding just 26 goals in 24 games and keeping seven clean sheets in the division, with Michele Mignani’s side hopeful of making back-to-back promotions to return to Serie A.

Indeed, with Caprile making an incredible decision to join Bari, the former Leeds star is more than justified in his recent comments, with Leeds likely regretting allowing such a talent to leave on a permanent deal in the summer transfer window.

Leeds could have banked major payday with Caprile had he stayed

Caprile has been a revelation for Bari in the Italian second-tier this season, and whilst Leeds seemingly made some sort of profit from the 21-year-old, that fee could have easily increased tenfold had the Whites opted to keep the shot-stopper on their books for an extra year.

With Bari chasing promotion and Carpile looking like a talent for the future, there’s a strong chance that the youngster will soon fetch the Italian side a great profit in the coming 12 months, with Leeds left to pick up the scraps that could have been more had they decided to keep hold of the keeper.