Ilia Gruev certainly had to be patient for his opportunity to arise after becoming a Leeds United player in the summer.
Gruev made the £5 million switch from Werder Bremen on the penultimate day of the transfer window but was handed just two starts in his first four months at Elland Road.
For the first time in many years, Leeds can say they boast genuine depth in midfield. Ethan Ampadu, Glen Kamara and Archie Gray were all ahead of him in the pecking order, making it hard for him to find his way into the team.
However, with Gray playing the majority of his minutes at right-back, and Ampadu having had to replace the injured Pascal Struijk at centre-back, Gruev’s opportunity finally came in January.
He used the FA Cup win at Peterborough United as the springboard to his success, and ever since then has found himself in the league team, starting 12 matches in a row.
Gruev has admitted before that he found it really tough to settle at Leeds due to his lack of playing time, and in an interview with Leeds Live, has now opened up on some of the conversations he had with Daniel Farke which kept him motivated.
Leeds’ relentless run has coincided with Gruev introduction
He said: “I talked to the boss [through the first half of the season] and he said ‘Continue like this, train hard like this and sooner or later there will be a chance and then you have to use it. That’s what he said. I think I did my job.”
Leeds have won 12 of their 13 league matches in 2024 and aside from the 3-0 victory over a struggling Birmingham City under Wayne Rooney on New Year’s Day, Gruev has started all of them.
Alongside the likes of Willy Gnonto, Patrick Bamford and Junior Firpo, Gruev is one of a number of fringe players who have come to the fore in this run, showing the strength in depth of Farke’s squad.
Leeds have conceded just three goals in this run of form, none of which have come from open play. Joe Rodon and Ampadu have rightly been receiving plenty of praise at centre-back, but Gruev has been pivotal to the defensive record, too.
The 23-year-old just always seems to be in the right place at the right time to sweep up any danger, whether that with an interception, or a tackle. He has protected the defence really well.