Leeds United have made some solid signings over the summer as they aim to break the mould and stay in the Premier League as a promoted side. But one signing may regret his move to Elland Road with the World Cup on the horizon.
Leeds spent close to £100million this summer, with players such as Anton Stach, Noah Okafor and Sean Longstaff impressing in particular.
Daniel Farke’s side have made a solid start to their survival campaign, racking up 11 points from nine Premier League games to keep themselves six points out of the relegation zone.
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But with the majority of their team remaining the same, it means that summer signing Sebastiaan Bornauw is seeing his World Cup chances dwindle by the day.
Photo by Pat Scaasi/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesSebastian Bornauw has barely featured for Leeds since summer Wolfsburg transfer
Bornauw was a semi-regular player at Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, making 88 Bundesliga appearances from a possible 136 in the German top-flight.
With Leeds needing defensive stability, the Belgian was drafted in by Daniel Farke. A £5.1million deal was agreed between Wolfsburg and Leeds, seeing the 26-year-old move to England.
However, it hasn’t quite turned out to be a solid move for the former Anderlecht star.
Bornauw was named on the bench in Leeds’ first three games of the season but failed to make the pitch, before being excluded for their subsequent trio of fixtures.
Bornauw made a return to the bench against Tottenham and Burnley, but was then dropped for Friday’s 2-1 win over West Ham.
With Jaka Bijol starring in Leeds’ win over West Ham, it’s tough to see where Bornauw garners first-team minutes in the Premier League.
Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesSebastian Bornauw’s World Cup chances are slipping away quickly
Bornauw’s only appearance so far was at centre-back in Leeds’ Carabao Cup defeat to beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday.
It was hardly a successful audition, and that means Bornauw’s World Cup hopes are slipping away.
The Wemmel-born star made his debut for Belgium in October 2020, making a further appearance later that year as a 21-year-old. It was around this time that Sebastiaan Bornauw was linked with a move to Crystal Palace.
More call-ups saw Bornauw into the side in March 2022, and a further appearance in March 2023 meant he had an outside chance of making the squad.
But he was last called up to the Red Devils squad over a year ago, and a move to the Premier League could have changed his fortunes.
But zero minutes in the Premier League are slowly but surely adding more nails to his North American coffin, which will continue as one stat predicts Leeds to stay up if they continue their strong form.