Bristol City: Lee Johnson should have sleepless nights over major transfer mistake - View | OneFootball

Luke Ayling is synonymous with Leeds United and is a modern-day club legend thanks to what he achieved during his seven-and-half-year stay at Elland Road.

However, it's easy to forget that before Ayling joined Leeds, he was a Championship regular elsewhere and spent two years at Bristol City - helping them win promotion in eye-catching style and then stay up.

It's fair to say that the right-back took the tough route to eventually playing Premier League football with Leeds and had to work his way up through the divisions after being released by Arsenal in 2010.

A four-year spell at Yeovil Town saw Ayling win promotion to the Championship with the Glovers, and despite being relegated after one season in the second tier, the defender had done enough to earn a move to Bristol City.

However, Ayling was sold by Lee Johnson after just two seasons at Ashton Gate in what looks like a puzzling decision given what he achieved at Leeds.

Luke Ayling's time with Bristol City

After Yeovil's relegation to League One in 2014, Luke Ayling left the Glovers on a free transfer and moved to fellow West Country side Bristol City.

The Robins were also a League One side at the time, but it's not unfair to say that Bristol City are a far bigger side than Yeovil so the move made sense as Ayling looked to further his career.

Ayling's first season at Ashton Gate proved very memorable as the club won both the League One title and the Football League Trophy, making it a league and cup double, as Ayling's decision to move to the club was vindicated.

He made an incredible 58 appearances in all competitions, playing both centre-back and right-back as his side lifted the title.

He began the 2015/16 Championship season in similarly good form but fell out of favour during the second half of the season under new boss Lee Johnson.

Johnson is the son of Gary Johnson, who'd been Ayling's boss at Yeovil, but it seemed as if Johnson Jr wasn't as keen on the defender as his father was.

In the summer of 2016, Ayling was sold to Leeds United for a fee of just £500,000, which has proven an absolute bargain for Leeds given his legend status.

Lee Johnson's decision to sell Luke Ayling for so cheap now looks ridiculous

Whilst Ayling is still technically a Leeds player, it looks as if he's played his final game for the club.

After making his debut in August 2016, the defender has played 268 games for Leeds, including 93 games in the Premier League.

He's captained Leeds on plenty of occasions and had the honour of skippering the side in their first game back in the Premier League, which saw them defeated 4-3 by Liverpool in September 2020.

Lee Johnson must surely be kicking himself for allowing Ayling to leave, given the fact he's played regular Premier League football and captained a club as big as Leeds, whilst Bristol City have still never played a Premier League game.

Now 32, Ayling is still going strong in the Championship and has spent the second half of the season on loan at Middlesbrough, where he's been a regular in Michael Carrick's side.

His contract at Elland Road expires this summer, and it seems unlikely that he'll be offered fresh terms at the club.

After seven-and-half years, Ayling looks set to leave Leeds, but it's fair to say that they got their money's worth out of him.

Lee Johnson's decision to sell him to a direct Championship rival for a meagre fee has proven to be an absolutely baffling one, and you wouldn't blame the ex-Robins boss for having sleepless nights over it.