Leeds United spent £100m on 10 new signings in the summer transfer window, and one of the features of their recruitment was the heavy spending they did to bolster their defence and midfield ahead of their return to the Premier League.
The Whites signed Jaka Bijol from Udinese in the summer for a deal worth £15m. He was seen as an upgrade on the centre-backs in their squad and was seen as a starting eleven player.
However, he was suspended for the first game of the season due to a red card he picked up in his last appearance for Udinese, and he has struggled to get into the team since then.
Bijol is still a key player for Sweden, but his performances during the international break have earned him flak, and he looked poor in the national team colours, leading to suggestions that his move to Leeds could impact him negatively.
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Bijol has only started in the game against Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Cup game, and was an unused substitute in the last two Premier League games.
The defender has ignored concerns around his playing time at Leeds, but his performances for Sweden have given further fuel to those concerns.
A Swedish outlet, Dnevnik, pointed out that his performance for Sweden makes it clear that his lack of minutes at Leeds is affecting him.
They stressed that mistakes have crept into his game due to a lack of minutes, and they have hampered his performances during the international break.
“Although he refuses to admit it, his lack of minutes at Leeds is noticeable”, the Swedish outlet pointed out.
“After bravely competing in the air and on the ground with excellent, fast and powerful Swedish attackers, he spoiled a brilliant performance with a mistake with a poorly judged ball that ended with Sweden’s second goal.
“In Switzerland, he fell into the average of the entire team, but was not to blame for any goals. He fluctuated between mistakes and good passes.”
Bijol may have to wait longer
Apart from the hammering at the hands of Arsenal, the Leeds defence has looked good in the other two Premier League games.
Daniel Farke has no reason to change the centre-back pairing of Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk at this stage, unless there is an unknown injury.
Bijol will have to wait a bit more before he gets his chance to perform in the Premier League and show the reasons why Leeds signed him in the summer.
However, the season is long, and the Swede will eventually get a run in the team, at some point during the campaign.
He’s not as good as Struijk, full stop.