Leeds United had a rather rocky Premier League season last time, narrowly avoiding relegation from the top division.

One player at the Yorkshire club who endured a difficult start to life in England was Junior Firpo.

Signed from Barcelona during the 2021 summer transfer window on a four-year deal worth a reported fee of £12.8m, the left-back ended up making 23 league appearances.

Over those appearances, the 25-year-old managed to provide one assist for his side, but rather unfortunately picked up 11 yellow cards in the process.

Another disappointing factor during his first campaign with Leeds was the fact that injuries severely disrupted his playing time.

With Leeds already being proactive in their addition of new players this summer, and with a little under two months remaining of the transfer market, they still have time to secure a few more signings before the window ends.

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One player that has been linked with a move to Elland Road who could act as an upgrade to Firpo is KRC Genk defender, Gerardo Arteaga.

After making 107 appearances for his boyhood club Santos Laguna in his home country of Mexico, the left-back joined his current side in the summer of 2020.

Since then, the 23-year-old - who is currently valued at £3.6m - has made 70 appearances for the Belgian club across all competitions, scoring three goals and delivering eight assists along the way.

To compare his latest league campaign with Firpo's debut Premier League season with Leeds, the Mexican ended up having more shots at goal, delivered more crosses and made more interceptions than the former Barcelona prospect.

He also picked up seven fewer yellow cards than the Leeds defender and gave away 31 fewer fouls, demonstrating he's much less of a liability than Firpo is - not to mention posing much more of a threat in the final third.

Taking all of this into account, it's clear to see that, should Victor Orta be able to secure a deal for Arteaga this summer, he would provide Jesse Marsch with a much more reliable option at left-back - posing a real danger to Firpo's starting spot in the 48-year-old's XI.

Moving forward, with Orta already flaunting his effectiveness when it comes to securing deals in the transfer window, bringing in the Genk defender could be a great next move for the Leeds director.

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