Leeds United’s Caleb Ekuban started at the weekend in a win over Barnsley.
Support for Leeds United sporting director Victor Orta has been waning in recent weeks with the club’s form on the slide.
Question marks have been increased over several summer signings, with the likes of Mateusz Klich, Pawel Cibicki and Jay-Roy Grot barely getting a kick.
Over the past week Ezgjan Alioski and Samu Saiz have rediscovered their form, but the biggest positive is the return to fitness of Caleb Ekuban.
Ekuban was Orta’s biggest punt at Leeds in the summer, paying a minimal fee to sign the striker from Chievo.
Last season Ekuban was playing on loan in the Albanian league, so his transition to Championship football was always going to be a gamble.
So far it is too early to judge, especially as Ekuban missed almost all of the first three months of the season after sustaining a foot injury a fortnight in, after scoring in the Carabao Cup.
At the weekend he made his first Championship start since his injury in a 2-0 win over Barnsley and looked impressive.
He did not net, but his movement posed problems for Barnsley and helped open up space for goalscorers Samu Saiz and Ezgjan Alioski.
If Ekuban can hold down a regular starting spot and add goals to his game, he could dramatically change the perception of Victor Orta’s first few months at Leeds.
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