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Expectations
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson was seen as a late transfer coup for Victor Orta. After Charlie Taylor departed the club for Burnley, there were many questions as to would Leeds United would bring in to replace the former Player of the Year at left-back. Borthwick-Jackson had broken into the Manchester United first team a few years back and was widely seen as destined for greatness. He had gone on loan to Wolverhampton the previous season, but his loan was cancelled early as he had a horrible spell at the club.
Leeds pipped a host of clubs to sign Borthwick-Jackson. Ajax, Reading, Heerenveen and PEC Zwolle all registered interest in him this summer.
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) August 7, 2017
Even though he was from Manchester United, a lot was expected of Borthwick-Jackson by Leeds fans. He was supposed to be able to step into a key role and replace one of the better players for Leeds in a position of need.
Performance
In a word, Borthwick-Jackson’s performance this season was awful. He only played in one league match for Leeds, the 0-0 home draw against Preston North End. He appeared four times in the League Cup, but never really seemed to be able to hold down a regular spot in the lineup.
He was rumoured to be injured and unavailable for selection, but his performance against Burnley in the League Cup was quite dire. Despite the left-back position being a problem area for the club, with Vurnon Anita failing to impress, Borthwick-Jackson did himself no favours and looked out of place in the first team.
CONFIRMED: Leeds end the loan spell of full-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) January 16, 2018
Got nowhere near the performance levels expected at the club. That's two successive loan spells cut short for the 20-year-old. #LUFC https://t.co/MjHfrGuPLw
After the disastrous FA Cup loss to Newport County, where he was one of the worst players on the pitch, Borthwick-Jackson was recalled by Manchester United, and was exiled to the U23s by Jose Mourinho.
Final Season Grade: F
Borthwick-Jackson was a high-profile loanee who was supposed to step in and be a starter at left-back, but couldn’t get ahead of Vurnon Anita, a midfielder, Gaetano Berardi, a right back, or Stuart Dallas, a winger, in the lineup. In his final match of the season for Leeds, the match against Newport County in the FA Cup, he looked like he didn’t care at all.
Despite breaking through at Manchester United as a teenager, he’s failed at two different Championship clubs while out on loan. At some point the issue is no longer with the clubs he’s been sent to, but with the player. This looks like one of those cases.