Leeds United have a strong history of bringing through talented young players and that’s a trend Marcelo Bielsa has profitted from during his time at the club.
Kalvin Phillips has blossomed into one of the finest, if not the finest, holding midfielders in the Championship, while Jack Clarke’s £10m move to Tottenham Hotspur last summer served to illustrate the quality of the emerging talent at Thorp Arch.
But, equally, Clarke’s departure proved that the club are often powerless in preventing their most promising players from leaving for a top flight challenge.
Charlie Taylor is another player who falls into that category as the then 23-year-old left Elland Road for Burnley, with the player himself citing the attraction of the Premier League to justify his decision, in 2017.
But how has the left-back fared since moving on to pastures new?
Football FanCast analyse his time at Leeds and how that links with where he is now…
Time at Leeds
Taylor was with the Whites from the age of nine but his graduation into the senior squad was far from a seamless transition.
In total Taylor embarked on four different loan spells at Bradford City, York City, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Fleetwood Town before he was handed an opportunity to impress at his parent club.
His first three loan spells were underwhelming but he thrived at Fleetwood, playing 42 games across all-competitions as he helped the club climb into League One via a 1-0 playoff final win over Burton Albion at Wembley.
With his glowing spell on loan in mind, Taylor remained at Elland Road for the 2014/15 season but needed to be patient while waiting for an opportunity.
Having spent almost the entirety of the first half of the season on the substitutes bench, he was made his first start for the club in almost three years on January 10th 2015 away at Bolton Wanderers, playing on the left side of a back-four which included both Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi.
He never looked back from that moment and remained a reliable, constant presence on the left side of the defensive unit for the remainder of the season, cementing his position until his eventual departure.
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Where is Taylor now?
A transfer to Burnley may not be the most glamorous of Premier League moves but the opportunity to work under Sean Dyche has certainly been beneficial for his development.
Taylor was on the fringes of the first team during his maiden campaign as he made just 11 league appearances, but the 2018/19 season saw him breakthrough and start 35 of 38 matches.
His prominence in the side has diminished slightly this season, but that hasn’t prevented Leicester City from taking an interest in his services.
Indeed, according to The Times, the Foxes are monitoring the 26-year-old’s progress amid emerging interest from the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur for Ben Chilwell’s signature.
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That Taylor has been touted as a potential replacement for a player of Chilwell’s calibre speaks volumes about how far he has developed since leaving Leeds.
The England international, who is valued at £45m by Transfermarkt, looks to have established himself as Gareth Southgate’s first choice left-back following a run of three straight starts for the Three Lions, and he would undoubtedly take some replacing at the King Power Stadium.
If Brendan Rodgers does eventually sanction Chilwell’s departure this summer, perhaps he could help Taylor move down a similar path to his predecessor and put him in contention for an international call-up in the process.