Daniel Ayala is coming to the end of his contract at Middlesbrough. He has already said that he will not play for Boro again this season and has been banned from the training ground. He’s also perennially linked to Leeds United, or so it seems. In conversation with Football Insider, pundit Kevin Phillips thinks a Whites move for the Spaniard would be good in one respect.
Middlesbrough’s reaction to ban him from the training ground is understandable. They are in a relegation dogfight and a potentially solid defender refusing to play is a kick to the team’s morale. There was always talk that he would not sign a longer deal, but many thought a short-term deal between both parties would be agreed.
Ayala came into English football when brought over from Sevilla by Liverpool as an Under-18 in 2007. He didn’t really break into the first-team picture at Anfield, spending a considerable amount of time on loan to the likes of Hull City and Derby before a permanent deal to Norwich City in 2011.
He first came to Middlesbrough in a 2013 loan deal before being snapped up permanently from Norwich the following January. Since that initial loan signing for Boro, Ayala has gone on to make 216 appearances, scoring 23 goals and contributing 7 assists. Now, though, his time is up at The Riverside and the Spaniard is destined to be on his way.
When Football Insider asked Phillips whether Ayala would be a fit for Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United, the former Sunderland striker thinks the Spaniard would be. He responded saying:
“I have rated Daniel Ayala for a while. It has been tough for him at Middlesborough over the last few years because the team hasn’t done well. He’s had a few injuries and has been put under pressure but he generally comes out on top.”
What is of more interest, perhaps, is the main reason that Phillips thinks the move would be a success. On this he added:
“I wouldn’t say it would be a fantastic signing for Leeds but I think it would be a shrewd one. He has great experience off the pitch as well as on it. I think he is a good player and when you play with better players you shine a bit more.”
Leeds restart their nine-game mini-season with a trip to Wales to face bogey side Cardiff City and will be looking for promotion. Should that be achieved, they will need defensive reinforcements and Phillips thinks that Ayala could fit that bill. He reckons that the Spaniard could be “A smart signing if they can get him in on the right money.”
