Leeds United will have regret over Norwich City transfer collapse for a long time: View | OneFootball

The Whites' transfer near-miss continues to haunt Elland Road

Leeds United's run to the Championship play-off final in the 2023/24 season was preceded by a testing summer transfer window.

It was no surprise that a whole host of big name players sought to depart West Yorkshire this time last year, with Leeds themselves desperately needing to trim their wage bill following relegation from the Premier League.

The Wilfried Gnonto transfer saga was also incredibly dragged out and wholly frustrating for all parties, although the diminutive Italian forward eventually won over the Elland Road faithful with a series of fine performances as the season grew on.

Yet, Leeds' transfer pursuit of then-Norwich City right-back Max Aarons truly lives long in memory for all the wrong reasons.

The Leeds United, Bournemouth transfer saga with Norwich City's Max Aarons

Aarons looked set to join Leeds for a £7m fee from Norwich last August.

It has been widely reported that Aarons was scheduled for a medical in Yorkshire, before interest from Premier League Bournemouth turned the defender's head at the eleventh hour.

He was a known favourite of Whites boss Daniel Farke, who handed him his professional debut with the Canaries and cultivated his blossoming into a first-team regular at Carrow Road, where they eventually achieved two promotions together.

The Aarons saga - and Leeds' dealings with the Cherries across the summer, for that matter - left a bitter taste in the mouths of the club's fans, with Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra also moving to Dorset.

Leeds United's Max Aarons transfer miss impacted them last season

With Cody Drameh and Luke Ayling (in January) transferring to Birmingham City and Middlesbrough respectively, Leeds were left with a real shortage of options in the right-back berth. Djed Spence came and went, flopping quite badly in the first-half of the season, before Connor Roberts had an injury-plagued loan from Burnley.

Archie Gray was elected to deputise there for much of the campaign, and the 18-year-old was near-faultless for Leeds last term as he tallied 52 appearances across all competitions.

His versatility belies his youthful years and that, make no mistake about it, forms part of the thinking among the circle of clubs eyeing his signature this summer, but Gray is a central midfielder by trade, which is an area where Leeds also struggled.

With a more natural option on the right side of Farke's back four - someone capable of making overlapping runs and angling dangerous crosses into the area for Leeds' forwards to capitalise upon like Aarons - they would've undoubtedly had an extra string to their bow.

Now, that could've made all the difference in their failed promotion push.

Former Leeds United transfer target Max Aarons has struggled at Bournemouth

If there's a silver lining to be found for Leeds supporters, then it's that Aarons has struggled to stamp down his mark on Andoni Iraola's side since arriving.

Indeed, he's often struggled to displace veteran Adam Smith from proceedings, who, at 33, is hardly the most glamorous option at the Spaniard's disposal and Aarons will surely have had designs on immediately usurping him in the pecking order, too.

Aarons only started 13 matches all season as Bournemouth achieved a respectable 12th-placed finish, whilst Smith featured in Iraola's starting line-up on 25 occasions.

What may feel like a questionable decision has paid dividends, however, with the Cherries keeping nine clean sheets and only eight teams conceding less xG than their 58.8.

Iraola is well-placed to deliver judgments on right-backs too, having spent over a decade at Athletic Bilbao playing the same position during a successful playing career.