Leeds United: Forward has no future at Elland Road: View | OneFootball

Leeds United have one of the most potent attacking lines in the Championship, which has been spoken about at length throughout the 2023/24 season, and is one of the main reasons underpinning their season.

They are in an automatic promotion race thanks to one of the best defences in the division, but the attacking line that includes the likes of Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, and Willy Gnonto is where Leeds' future looks brightest, with an array of options available to Daniel Farke, most of whom are under the age of 23.

Jaidon Anthony is another of those young and talented attackers, when he became Leeds' final recruit of the summer transfer window at the 11th hour of deadline day, moving from AFC Bournemouth as part of the deal that saw Luis Sinisterra head in the other direction on loan.

Sinisterra's boots were big ones to fill for any player, let alone just Anthony, but he has previous promotion credentials with Bournemouth in a season where he weighed in with eight goals and seven assists.

Leeds knew they were well stocked out wide, with the likes of Gnonto, Summerville, and Dan James on their books; however, Anthony should be among the Championship's most threatening wide players, too, potentially making the winger positions the strongest department in Farke's side.

Despite the amount of competition, Anthony, as a previous promotion-winner, would have backed himself to make his mark this term in the Whites' quest to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Despite contributing heavily to Bournemouth's promotion in the 2021/22 campaign, regular action in the Premier League has been much harder to come by for Anthony with the Cherries. It made the switch to Leeds look like an obvious one on paper, in search of regular game time.

It was not abundantly clear how often Anthony would be deployed from the start, but the 24-year-old offered something different in attack to some of Leeds' other wingers and looked to be a useful option for Farke in particular games. He is direct and tricky, even if he is not as high quality in terms of output as the Colombian he has replaced, whilst being the most natural 'playmaker' winger in the squad, with the others more likely to score themselves than create for others, on average.

As mentioned, the Whites have a plethora of wingers at their disposal at present, but the majority are better on the left-hand side, although many can play on both flanks. Gnonto and James have done that this season, whilst Ian Poveda is more wedded to playing as a right-winger but headed out on loan.

That made Anthony's job all the more difficult, with Summerville and Gnonto more natural on the left at inverting to shoot when the pitch opens up inside. Anthony may have been a quality operator at this level with Bournemouth, but Farke has struck gold with Summerville, restricting the amount Anthony could be an asset.

Given the aforementioned Championship career he has had, the fact Anthony has become content with a bit-part role in Leeds' bid to regain their Premier League status shows the embarrassment of riches which Farke can call upon to change a game at any given moment.

He has had to largely settle for 10-30 minute bench cameos for the most part, which are perhaps a slight waste of the 24-year-old's obvious talents. That's been made more difficult by Farke's reluctance to take off his star man in Summerville, meaning Anthony has either operated as a slightly unnatural right-winger, or as an extra winger late in games on the left when Leeds are desperate for a goal to win or equalise during a game.

Jaidon Anthony's lack of action

Although he has spent much of the season coming off the bench, something that probably hasn't helped the winger to get into a rhythm, he will be disappointed by his lack of goalscoring contributions during the 2023/24 campaign, with his only league goal coming against Watford.

At his best, the 24-year-old is a real handful. He has good technical ability, combined with decent speed, directness, as well as a lovely back-post cross when he is able to open his body up from left to right.

Recently, Leeds have struggled more in front of goal than prior to the international break, especially during the last two home games, where they failed to score against either Sunderland or Blackburn Rovers, and a player of Anthony's talents in terms of unlocking doors would probably have expected to see more minutes than he received.

Especially after he registered a brace of assists against Chelsea in the FA Cup earlier this year, where it looked like he might kick on from there, but his game time did not increase, solidifying his place within the pecking order, and he simply hasn't enjoyed that many highlights in a Leeds shirt.

Anthony looked bright in a cameo away to Watford a few games ago, too, almost notching the winner late on, but has been used for extra time in just two games since, including remaining rooted to the substitutes bench against both Coventry City and Sunderland, in a real head-scratcher for Leeds fans.

Starting just two games in the league, with a further 26 substitute appearances, it is fair to say Anthony has been one of the less successful signings this term, despite a few big moments, including a wonderful goal against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup in a touching moment dedicated to his late mother.