Leeds United still have a significant number of players in their squad who were part of the team that won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League.

One of those players that has proved to have been a particularly good bit of business from the Yorkshire club is Pascal Struijk.

Signed back in the 2018 January transfer window from Ajax's U19 side, the defender has gone on to make 60 senior appearances for the Whites across all competitions.

With 24 league appearances to his name in this latest campaign, the Dutchman has been a rather prominent figure in the team at the back.

In terms of what he offers the Whites, the 22-year-old has racked up the joint-third highest number of tackles won (31), the third-highest number of blocks (49) and the second-highest number of interceptions (58) in the Premier League out of anyone in the Leeds squad.

The £29k-per-week figure also has the third-highest number of clearances (76) in the league from Jesse Marsch's outfit, behind only Liam Cooper (96) and Diego Llorente (84).

To further highlight his defensive attributes, only Cooper and Junior Firpo have a higher average for aerial duels won than the former Ajax youth star - out of players that have been involved in more than 10 duels.

Even though the Elland Road outfit have conceded more goals (68) in the league than any other top-flight side this season, it's safe to say that things would have been a lot worse had Struijk not been around.

Back in October 2020, Transfermarkt had the defender's market value listed as £675k, whereas it now stands at £13.5m - a whopping 1900% increase - highlighting the significant rise it has taken as a result of his actions on the pitch.

Having been touted to become a "supreme centre-back" for the club in the future by Leeds journalist Beren Cross, it seems as though Struijk has the tools to do just that.

Even though the colossus hasn't started in Leeds' previous two league games against Southampton and Watford, he will surely be an important squad option for Marsch heading into next season and beyond - something that leads us to believe Victor Orta hit the jackpot when landing Struijk back in 2018.

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