Luke Ayling lifts lid on unusual circumstances of Elland Road move: "He ended up going out on loan to Leeds so I said to him, 'Text the manager and see if he wants a right-back'"
Friday 7 May 2021 13:18, UK
Leeds United's Luke Ayling joined Laura Woods and Bayo Akinfenwa on the latest Super 6 Podcast.
Ayling joined Leeds United in 2016 from Bristol City and helped his side to the Premier League last season, but his importance has been amplified this term with him being an ever-present in Marcelo Bielsa's side.
The right-back caught up with Laura Woods and Bayo Akinfenwa to discuss all things Bielsa and his transfer to Leeds in unusual circumstances...
Ayling moved to Leeds in the summer of 2016 but though he has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water, his initial transfer came about thanks to the help of a footballing friend...
"I wasn't playing at Bristol City, I wasn't making the squad some weeks. I went on holiday with Kyle Bartley, who was at Swansea at the time. He ended up going out on loan to Leeds, so I said to him, 'Text the manager and see if he wants a right-back'. I think it was Garry Monk at the time.
"I thought nothing of it, went back into pre-season with Bristol City and played the first game. After the first game, the team sheet went up for the League Cup game on the Tuesday and I wasn't in it. I got a call from my agent, who said we had a bid from Leeds accepted and that we were going to go down there. I was buzzing, I couldn't wait.
"Kyle sent them a message in Thailand; we were in Thailand start of June. Kyle went to pre-season with Leeds, but in their first game of the season, their right-back got injured. I thought, maybe I have got a chance. I spoke to Kyle after the game and he said he thought there was going to be a bid going in for me. I said, 'Don't be silly', but the bid went in on Monday and I was signing there on the Wednesday, Thursday.
"I paid Kyle back in drinks, don't you worry about that!"
Marcelo Bielsa's training sessions are known to be tough but what kind of impression did the Argentine make on Ayling at first?
"For the first two weeks, I never saw him. He never came out for training once. We were always running or doing drills with his staff. The first day he came out we played our 'Murderball' session, our football session, and he came out for the first time.
"If a manager is coming out, meeting you and taking his first training session, they may come round and be a bit friendly; he came out and started shouting at us: 'Run, run, run!'
"It was the hardest session I have ever done in football and that was the first time he came out to do a training session, so we knew what we were in for.
"The best thing about it is that Pablo Hernandez, who is 36, still has to do the same running that Jamie Shackleton does, who is 21!
"It is good for us because we know that everybody gets treated the same - there is no special treatment for anyone. Raph (Raphinha) - who is unbelievable and can do what he wants anyway and still be the best player - he still has to do the same running and get through a certain amount of sprints, so it is good."
"I get asked this all the time, there is nothing exciting about it!
"Luke Freeman came in when I was at Arsenal so there were two Lukes in the Under-18s and the boys just started calling me 'Bill'. Ever since then, every single club I have gone to I have just said, 'My name's Bill', so everybody calls me that now.
"I like it. Coaches call me 'Bill', everybody calls me it!"
Leeds recently drew 0-0 with Manchester United - but a certain incident involving the officials infuriated Ayling...
"I just find it so annoying this year that they wait, they wait and they wait, and then they put up the offside flag.
"If you know it is offside, just put it up. I thought it was offside so I gave the liner what I thought of it and then it got captured, and it was not how I thought I had said it!"
Ayling departed Arsenal in 2010 but insists there were no hard feelings...
"That was 10 years ago when they said I wasn't good enough, which at the time I can admit, I was nowhere near that level.
"This was when Arsenal were going for leagues; they were second, third, right up there. It is nice to go back there now."
Leeds find themselves only two points behind Arsenal with four games to play, and they feature in this weekend's Super 6 round, taking on Arsenal's local rivals Tottenham.
You too can get involved, and potentially scope a quarter of a million pounds for free. All you need to do is correctly predict six scorelines. Play for free, entries by 12:30pm Saturday.
Round 54 Fixtures:
Leeds vs Tottenham (Sat 12:30pm)
Barnsley vs Norwich
Watford vs Swansea
Bournemouth vs Stoke
Derby vs Sheffield Wednesday
Cardiff vs Rotherham
