Player Profile: Dynamic defender Jayden Bogle is Leeds United’s trump card

So vital has Jayden Bogle become to Leeds United that even with suspension looming, Daniel Farke refused to rest his dynamic right-back.

“It makes no sense to rotate Jayden,” said the German ahead of a Championship fixture against Millwall earlier this month, the last game in which Bogle could have incurred a two-match suspension for accumulating ten yellow cards.

“He’s a top player for us, a very important player.

“We need his drive going forward.

Praise

“The last time we played without him, we struggled a bit to create chances, and when Jayden is on it, he delivers assists and goals.

“If he is fit, he plays.”

For a manager who rarely gives any such guarantees, it was praise indeed, and an illustration of why Bogle’s £5m transfer from Sheffield United in July was perhaps the best piece of business Leeds did all summer.

It was a financially-motivated transaction that did not go down well with Chris Wilder, the Blades boss who signed Bogle from Derby County in 2020.

A product of the Rams academy, Bogle moved to Bramall Lane aged 20, scored on his Premier League debut against Brighton, then bagged another in a rare 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.

In an unrelentingly dismal season that culminated in relegation to the Championship, the defender’s marauding adventure provided a rare bright spark.

Decision

Yet his four-year stint at the Lane was punctuated by a serious knee injury, and it wasn’t until last season that Bogle finally supplanted the late George Baldock as first-choice wing-back on United’s right side.

Then, following another relegation from the Premier League, came the bid from Leeds.

“I don’t think we should have sold him,” said Wilder, who returned for a second spell in the dugout in December 2023.

“You want to build your team around good players, and he was one of the best last season.

“But that decision was not my decision.”

For Leeds, however, it solved a pressing problem.

Despite their attacking riches, the Whites lacked a dedicated right-back last term.

ON THE BURST: Jayden Bogle has given Leeds extra impetus going forward

PICTURE: Alamy

Creativity

At 32, it was felt that Luke Ayling had passed his prime and could no longer provide the intensive high pressing or width that Farke’s style demands.

He eventually departed to join Middlesbrough in January.

That left rookie midfielder Archie Gray to plug the gap, and the teenager made such a fine fist of his makeshift role that he earned a berth in the Championship Team of the Season and a £40m transfer to Tottenham.

Nevertheless, Farke and his coaching team felt that Leeds weren’t creating enough chances down their right flank and identified Bogle as a full-back who could provide the missing creativity.

So it has proved.

Gray failed to find the net at all last term, whereas Bogle has scored five goals this season and was the joint-highest scoring defender in the entire division ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.

Though level with Gray on two assists, Bogle has delivered twice as many crosses and key passes per 90 minutes, attempted more than three times as many shots and created double the number of chances.

He has also made 0.69 penalty-box entries per 90 minutes to Gray’s 0.25.

Benefit

An additional benefit of this threat is the liberating effect it has on winger Dan James.

It is no surprise that the Welshman is enjoying arguably the most productive season of his career with Bogle providing constant overloads.

Nor has his attacking output come at a cost.

Compared to Gray, Bogle is performing better in terms of tackles, interceptions and clearances.

“Jayden is fearless in how he plays,” said Paul Heckingbottom, the current Preston North End manager and Wilder’s predecessor at Bramall Lane.

“He plays on the front foot and takes the game to the opposition, but his one-v-one defending and willingness to defend is a lot better than he gets credit for.”

None of this is to suggest Gray was in any way deficient; the 19-year-old was, after all, a central midfielder playing his first season of professional football.

But the numbers do demonstrate beyond much doubt that Bogle has added an attacking dimension to an already potent Leeds side that now looks more balanced as a result.