'Bornauw proving to be a shrewd addition'

Hot takes are commonplace in society. Thankfully hindsight is a wonderful thing. Back in October a publication ran with the headline '49ers wasted millions on Sebastiaan Bornauw investment, and it's backfiring for Leeds United.'

To give the article context, it was written nine games into the campaign, with Leeds' new defender still yet to make a Premier League appearance for the club.

An injury during pre-season, combined with manager Daniel Farke's then formational preference of a back four, featuring the experienced centre-half pairing of Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk, surely contributed to the Belgian's lack of game time.

In the here and now Bornauw has started three of the last five Premier League fixtures. From what I saw from the commentary box on Merseyside on Monday, he's proving to be a shrewd addition.

His imposing 6ft 3in stature clearly fits in with a recruitment shift towards greater physicality. The 26-year-old has the technical ability to play both long and short when bringing the ball out from the back, and even more importantly, he can defend, as demonstrated by his standout moment being the block made to deny Iliman Ndiaye's goal bound effort.

As is so often the case a player's patience for minutes needs to be balanced alongside the prospect of inevitable injuries to his team-mates. With Jacob Bijol set to remain sidelined until late February, on the evidence seen so far, Bornauw has a real chance to cement his place in the starting eleven.