Leeds United loanee Laurens De Bock is sitting on the bench and has not won a game in a year

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In January, Leeds United had something of a left-back crisis. The club had failed to effectively replace Charlie Taylor, with loanee Cameron Borthwick-Jackson proving uninspiring.

Victor Orta scoured Europe for a suitable replacement and eventually came back with Belgian defender Laurens De Bock.

It looked a great piece of business. Reportedly signed for a fee of £1.5 million from Club Brugge, he had not long been involved in the Belgium national team set-up.

So Leeds fans were rather surprised when they finally saw him play. De Bock struggled for form at Elland Road. It culminated in a dreadful performance v Derby County. In the end, he played seven league games for Leeds last season, with the club not winning a single one of them.

He picked up an injury, was replaced by academy talent Tom Pearce, and the signing of Barry Douglas from Wolves this summer saw him become a Leeds outcast.

Eventually, he agreed a move back to Belgium. The 25-year-old joined KV Oostende on loan until the end of the season. However, that has not exactly gone to plan either.

De Bock has played just twice since joining the club, once at centre-back and the other on the left-wing. He was dropped entirely from the squad for the clash with Leeds’ sister club KAS Eupen before sitting on the bench against Standard Liege and Waasland-Beveren. In the two games he has played for Oostende, he has again failed to record a win.

It means De Bock has not played in a competitive win since Brugge defeated Royal Antwerp on the 22nd October 2017 – nearly an entire year.

De Bock will hope he can wrestle back his place in the Oostende starting XI after the international break. Otherwise, he has done little to prove Leeds United wrong.