Leeds United decided to ditch sporting director Victor Orta earlier this year shortly before the club were officially relegated to the Championship.
The Spanish chief arrived at Elland Road in 2017 and enjoyed some great successes during his time in Yorkshire, including a second division title and a ninth-placed Premier League finish.
However, his decisions after Marcelo Bielsa's exit in February 2022 eventually played a part in the relegation back down to the second tier.
Brenden Aaronson
£28.4m
Rodrigo
£25.9m
Dan James
£25.1m
Georginio Rutter
£24.2m
Luis Sinisterra
£21.6m
The 44-year-old made some questionable signings in the transfer window throughout his spell with the Whites that he may look back on with regret. However, he may also ponder what could have gone differently if alternative targets were signed instead of the ones that the club decided to bring in. One of those notable names is Angus Gunn.
Were Leeds interested in signing Angus Gunn?
Football Insider reported in the summer of 2020 that Leeds were interested in signing Angus Gunn from Southampton, who were prepared to send him out on loan.
The report claimed that the Whites were also keen on a deal to sign the former England U21 international from Manchester City in 2018, which was when the Saints snapped him up on a permanent basis.
It was then claimed by The Mirror that Orta failed in a late swoop to sign the towering shot-stopper from the south coast club ahead of the 2021/22 campaign as Norwich City signed him for a fee of £5m ahead of the Yorkshire side.
Bielsa and Orta seemingly saw potential in Gunn as his performances for Southampton did not suggest that he would be an immediate star at Premier League level.
The Norwich-born goalkeeper struggled to deal with the quality of football in the top flight after his move to St. Mary's across the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns.
Over those two seasons, Gunn conceded 10.6 more goals than the average goalkeeper would have been expected to. This essentially means that he significantly underperformed in relation to the quality of the efforts that came his way.
He allowed in 3.1 more than expected across 18 Premier League matches in his first season with Southampton and then a whopping 7.5 more over 25 outings the following campaign.
His form for the Saints came after the former Citizens prospect played 46 Championship matches on loan with Norwich and made six errors that directly led to a shot or goal for the opposition during the 2017/18 term.
These statistics did not suggest that Leeds were missing out on a top-quality operator who would have improved their side for Bielsa at the time.
However, the son of former Scotland international Bryan Gunn has gone on to hit his stride for Norwich over the last two years and has been better than Whites number one Illan Meslier, who has simply become a liability at the back.
How many goals has Gunn prevented for Norwich?
Since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, the 27-year-old colossus has saved 5.1 more goals than expected based on the xG he has faced.
The Scottish stopper has been an above-average performer between the sticks in terms of stopping shots, with his form throughout the 2022/23 season being particularly impressive.
Gunn prevented 8.2 more goals than expected across 30 Championship appearances last term for the Canaries as he showcased his ability to be a match-winner for his side.
No goalkeeper prevented more goals in the division and he also led the way in his position for post-shot xG saved (0.27) per 90 across the season.
The Scotland international has also proven himself to be a proactive player with his ability to sweep up behind the defence to stop promising attacks for the opposition.
He ranks in the top 5% of his positional peers among the league's most similar to the Championship for defensive actions outside of the box per 90 (1.92).
How many goals has Meslier prevented for Leeds?
Meslier has been a below-average performer between the sticks for a number of years as he has let in a staggering 31.6 more goals than expected since the start of the 2019/20 season.
The French shot-stopper consistently allowed in far too many shots that the average goalkeeper would be expected to save during his time in the Premier League with the Whites as the ex-Lorient prospect failed to prove himself to be good enough for the top flight.
He conceded an alarming 16.4 more than expected across 38 matches during the 2021/22 campaign and no goalkeeper in the division had a worse record than that, with Tim Krul's -11.7 being the second-worst.
Meslier followed that up by conceding 12.4 more than expected over 34 league outings across the 2022/23 season and only Gavin Bazunu (16.6) was below him in that regard.
The 23-year-old was once described as a "massive liability" by journalist David Kent and the statistics throughout his time at Elland Road to date back that up.
His sweeping play is impressive, with 1.78 defensive actions outside of the box per 90, but ranks within the top 8% of his positional peers over the last 365 days, which is below Gunn.
He was questionable once again in Leeds' most recent clash with Southampton as the French 'keeper conceded three goals from five shots on target and registered a game-low Sofascore rating of 6.3.
Leeds supporters may now look back and wonder what could have been if Orta, Bielsa, and the club had managed to sign Gunn to challenge and eventually displace Meslier between the sticks in Yorkshire.
Their respective shot-stopping statistics in recent seasons suggest that the Norwich star would be a big upgrade on the ex-Lorient gem, as he has been a net positive for the Canaries with his shot-stopping ability, as opposed to the net negative that the 23-year-old has been for the Whites.
Therefore, Orta certainly made a mistake with his failed swoop to sign Gunn, who was recently dubbed "the best" in the Championship by his boss David Wagner, as he is currently a much better option at this level than Meslier.