Leeds United four-year Champions League reunion holds Premier League potential

Gabriel Gudmundsson was a shortlist of one this summer when the Leeds recruitment team were identifying Junior Firpo's replacement at left-back. A Swedish international with 'big league' experience and significant European involvement, Gudmundsson was seen as an ideal candidate for a position that was to take on a much more defensive profile this season. Leeds and Daniel Farke opted not to go down the route others have explored, repurposing centre-backs as full-backs to give height and physicality across the backline. Instead they wanted to keep an attacking edge out wide with Jayden Bogle on one side and A.N. Other on the left. Gudmundsson, intent on finding his next home in the summer, was convinced of their project and a £10m deal was struck with Lille.

Since pre-season the 26-year-old has performed so well as to suggest left-back will no longer be the problem position it once was for this club. His dribbling ability and desire to carry the ball forward has helped Leeds escape pressure in their own half and put the opposition on the back foot. And in recent games there has been the beginning of a promising partnership on the left side with winger Noah Okafor. Another summer addition, Okafor was the left winger Leeds turned to after their failed pursuit of Igor Paixão. The Swiss international left AC Milan after turning out for the Serie A giants against Leeds in a friendly in Dublin this summer. He made his full debut against Fulham and over the course of the last three games has added an undeniable attacking edge, albeit while he gets up to full speed fitness wise. With Gudmundsson keen to get forward in support to link up, the left flank has begun to look dangerous as well as defensively sound.

Four years ago they were rivals. Gudmundsson was in a Lille side that travelled to Austria to face Red Bull Salzburg in Champions League action. On that night Okafore was in the starting line-up for the hosts, alongside Brenden Aaronson and two other names familiar to Leeds fans - Rasmus Kristensen and Max Wober. Salzburg ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a pair of penalties, with Kristensen unsuccessfully appealing for a third spot-kick after belting a cross into Gudmundsson's midriff.

The Swede and Okafor have been reminiscing about that game as they get to know one another on and off the pitch.

"Noah is a great player, he's shown that in a top league for Milan in Serie A and in the Champions League," said Gudmundsson. "I played against him, we talked about it, in '21 when Lille played Salzburg. Great player, great person as well."

Three games is a tiny sample size but those fixtures have held promise of a partnership that could be very important for Leeds. Last season on the right Bogle and Dan James were able to strike up an understanding that gave opposition sides a horrible time of it. Firpo and Manor Solomon were not on the same page quite as often as their right-sided equivalents but they did combine a number of times to potent effect. Gudmundsson hopes that he and Okafor will benefit more and more as they get further match minutes as a pairing.

"Just keep playing with each other and time will tell that we'll get an even better relationship on the pitch for later on," he said. "When you play with each other you get to know each other even more."

Against Wolves it was Okafor with the significant goal involvement, running onto Anton Stach's pass to drill the ball into the net and make the score 3-1 to the Whites. On Saturday when Bournemouth visited Gudmundsson and his winger were both involved in the build-up to Sean Longstaff's goal. Gudmundsson battled, on his knees, to keep the ball in play and Okafor was on his shoulder to try a follow-up shot. The ball broke directly to Aaronson, his shot was blocked and Longstaff sent Elland Road wild with his beautiful finish.

Contributing to attacks that yield goals is high up on Gudmundsson's list of priorities. Though he only started 20 Ligue 1 games, the left-back led Lille in progressive carries last season. And even if Leeds United's newly-promoted status means he had to accept a certain reality this season, at heart he is an attacker.

"In the end we need to understand where we are," he said. "We're not Liverpool, City, the top teams. As a defender we need to first defend, make sure they don't score, especially on the side where I am, stop the attacks. And after when there's a possibility to go forward and try to create something for my players in front of me, I try to do that as often as possible because in the end we need to get as many points as possible and to do that you need to score goals and win games. It's a balance but I think it's a balance that has been quite good so far."