When Tom Cairney left Leeds as a 16-year-old back in 2007, few at the Yorkshire club would have expected the midfielder to go on to establish himself as a Premier League captain.
The Scottish midfielder was with Leeds between 1998-2007, when he was released, before joining Hull City (per Transfermarkt).
A move to Blackburn Rovers followed in 2014, where he would spend just one season, before completing a move to Fulham the summer of 2015 for an undisclosed fee.
Since then, he has established himself as a crucial part of the Cottagers’ side, having made 215 appearances for the West London side in his five years with the club, in which he has contributed 37 goals and 28 assists.
He has proved himself to be a creative force in England’s top two divisions since leaving Leeds United, having contributed 51 goals and 55 assists across his time with Hull, Blackburn and Fulham.
The Scotsman was made Fulham captain ahead of the 2017/18 campaign and since then, he has helped the Cottagers to two promotions to the Premier League, scoring in their play-off final win against Aston Villa in 2018 (per Fulham).
Cairney has also made a promising start to the 2020/21 campaign in the Premier League, having averaged a 7.01 rating across his eight appearances in the top-flight so far (per WhoScored).
If he were to replicate that form in the Leeds United squad, it would see him rated as the Whites’ third-best player in the top-flight, ahead of every midfielder in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad, so it could definitely be argued that he would have been a good player to have at Leeds.
Earlier this year, Scott Parker was full of praise for the midfielder after his goal against Bristol City in the Championship, saying:
“Tom Cairney took his goal superbly and was outstanding throughout the game. I thought he was head and shoulder above every other player.
“We all know his quality on the ball, but in the last three games he has showed much more than that and today it was a complete performance.” (per FourFourTwo)
Therefore, it definitely seems as if Leeds made a mistake in letting him go for nothing all the way back in 2007, as although it is impossible to predict whether he would have enjoyed the same success if he had stayed with the Yorkshire club, there is no doubting his talent as a footballer.
And, in other news, Leeds may already have the heir to Kalvin Phillips’ throne in teenage prodigy wanted by PSG…