Leeds United will keep plugging along this pre-season, hoping that the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Wilfried Gnonto stay rooted in the building for as long as possible.
Neither the Dutchman or the Italian played substantial minutes during Leeds' last clash out in Germany, however, as the Whites ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Schalke in another behind closed doors affair.
Away from the constant rumour mill involving these two attacking stars, there will be plenty of encouraging takeaways from this pre-season victory, as Jayden Bogle impressed once more from defence.
Jayden Bogle's performance in pre-season
The former Sheffield United man has now picked up two assists in the pre-season camp out in Germany, linking up yet again with Mateo Joseph to help the young Spanish centre-forward get on the scoresheet against Schalke, and aid him in further in trying to kick down Daniel Farke's door for more first-team opportunities when competitive football starts again.
Bogle did join the ranks at Elland Road with a reputation for being an attack-oriented full-back, having picked up 16 assists when playing in the Championship in the past, and has already begun to showcase that for his new side, albeit only during pre-season run-outs so far.
The expansive nature of Bogle, who will constantly be looking to put a ball into the danger area for the likes of Joseph to put a chance away, will surely help Leeds become even more of a devastating team when venturing forward this season to come, having bagged an impressive 81 strikes during the regular campaign last time out.
That goal total could become even grander with the former Blades man present up and down the right flank, who will have been equally pleased to pick up a clean sheet against Leeds' 2. Bundesliga opponents in Germany, as he will be tasked to shut out some tricky Championship attackers too.
Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth was particularly taken aback by the 24-year-old's latest showing, handing him an 8/10 rating in his post-match musings, stating that Bogle did "both sides of the game well."
Leeds might well have found a permanent fix to their woes in the right-back spot, therefore, with Archie Gray's makeshift presence here now merely left in the past.
How Bogle can make Farke forget about Gray
Farke will just be overjoyed that he has an out-and-out right-back available to him next season, away from having to shoehorn Gray into the starting XI in defence.
Gray has now obviously left for pastures new at Tottenham Hotspur, which was a sickening blow at the time for those at Elland Road to stomach, but Bogle does feel like an excellent replacement to get the Leeds masses back on side.
Stat – per 90 mins*
Bogle
Gray
Games played
34
44
Goals scored
3
0
Assists
0
2
Interceptions*
0.9
0.7
Tackles*
1.9
2.1
Possession won*
0.3
0.3
Clearances*
2.5
0.6
Total duels*
4.8
4.2
Stats by Sofascore
Even during what was a grim collective season for Chris Wilder's men, finishing bottom of the Premier League with just 16 points accumulated, Bogle kept holding his head high and even bettered Gray's numbers from last season in various different areas, even as Leeds eyed up promotion in the division below.
Therefore, Bogle is also a smart buy, and one that can make Farke forget about their ex-wonderkid quickly, based on the fact he can battle away in a basement battle if Leeds do win promotion soon, alongside offering lots more in attack than the new £30m Spurs buy was capable of.
Leeds fans will wait to see how their new 24-year-old purchase does perform in the bread and butter of the second tier this coming campaign, but everything is already pointing in the direction of this being a fantastic deal, weakening Wilder's men in the process too will want to win promotion at the expense of the Whites.
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