Simon Grayson thinks Leeds United fans have ‘underestimated’ one of the biggest characters in the dressing room
It is difficult to pick out a Leeds United player and say they have performed exceptionally badly during the 2024-25 campaign, as Daniel Farke’s men return to the Premier League as Championship winners.
The obvious one is Illan Meslier and while he made mistakes, the Frenchman still kept north of 20 clean sheets and produced some excellent moments. Brenden Aaronson has been rather hit and miss this term.
But the American has still had a hand in 11 goals, scoring nine himself while being asked to basically play in two positions – becoming another midfielder and a striker when Leeds have the ball in the final third.
Some players will take all the plaudits, the form of Dan James, Manor Solomon, Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle, Ao Tanaka, Junior Firpo and other starting stars will be seen as the main reason why Leeds won the title.
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Simon Grayson thinks Leeds defender has been underestimated
But there is so much more to it than that. Josuha Guilavogui may have broken Vinnie Jones’ record of a winning streak after joining the club, but it is his voice and experienced head that’s been absolutely key.
Simon Grayson believes Sam Byram has been “underestimated” over the last couple of seasons since he rejoined the club on a free. He told LUTV that Byram is one of the biggest voices in the dressing room.
“We’ve underestimated people like Sam Byram and what they’ve contributed to this team. Sam probably came in and thought, I’ll be a squad player,” Grayson said when discussing Byram’s second Leeds spell.
“He’s probably played 50% of the games if not more, Sam will have been a big character in the dressing room. It’s not always the attacking players, they get all the headlines. There are unsung heroes in there.”
Sam Byram’s 2024-25 in numbers and where does his future lie?
It has been another solid showing from Byram, with the experienced full-back operating as cover once again for Bogle and Firpo. Bogle was in the Team of the Season, and Firpo was shocked he was omitted.
It shows how good you have to be to start for Leeds and while there was a drop-off when Byram came in, whether it be injury – like Plymouth on the final day – or suspension, he still did his job exceptionally well.
Sam Byram’s 2024-25 stats:
| Games | Minutes | Wins | Clean Sheets | Goals and Assists | FotMob rating |
| 39 | 1617 | 26 | 21 | 2 | 6.95 |
Perhaps more defensively solid than Bogle and Firpo, too. He has Farke’s trust and has remained largely injury free, a surprise given his record when returning. Now, he finds himself out of contract come June.
Earlier this year, Byram said he does not know if he will get a new Leeds deal. But in terms of Premier League rules and having a homegrown quota, it makes sense to keep Byram given he’s happy as cover.
