Why Leeds United should release Conor Shaughnessy 

According to claims from Football Insider (h/t Sheffield Star), Leeds United are planning to release seldom-seen defender Conor Shaughnessy from his contract after the Irishman failed to secure a move away from Elland Road in the summer window.

The Irishman hasn’t been named in Marcelo Bielsa’s 25-man Premier League squad and the Whites are prepared to let him leave for free, with the 24-year-old’s contract at Elland Road set to expire in 2021.

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Conor Shaughnessy started his footballing education in the youth ranks of Reading and signed his first professional contract in 2013. He featured extensively for the club’s U-18 and U-21 sides but never played in a competitive fixture and was released in 2016.

The centre-back joined Leeds United at the youth level and was promoted to the first-team squad after a string of impressive displays for the development side. 

The 24-year-old played 14 games for the Whites in all competitions during the 2017-18 season before seeing his progress halted by an injury. Shaughnessy found himself way down the pecking order following the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa in 2018 and has never really managed to break into the Argentine’s plans. 

Shaughnessy spent the second half of the 2018-19 season on loan at Hearts of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership. He then had loan spells at Mansfield Town and Burton Albion in the Football League last term. 

Shaughnessy doesn’t have a future at Leeds

Conor Shaughnessy wasn’t a part of Bielsa’s plans in the Championship over the past two seasons. And his omission from Leeds’ Premier League squad doesn’t come as a surprise. 

The Irishman hasn’t featured in a league game for the Whites since the 2017-18 season. Considering that the club has gone through radical changes under Bielsa and sporting director Victor Orta over that period, the 24-year-old’s future in West Yorkshire looks bleak.

Shaughnessy hasn’t really kicked on while on loan in the lower divisions, so he’s certainly not a player Leeds can rely on to deliver the goods in the top-flight. The Whites are in need of some additional cover at the back to cope with injuries to Diego Llorente and Liam Cooper but the former Ireland U-21 star is highly unlikely to be considered as a realistic option. 

He has been usurped in the pecking order by younger players like Oliver Casey, Pascal Struijk and Leif Davis. That’s enough to suggest there’s no way back for Shaughnessy at Elland Road.

Verdict

To that end, it wouldn’t make any sense for Leeds to keep him at the club until the end of his contract next summer and simply pay him wages for doing next to nothing. The Whites need to get rid of the deadwood. Shaughnessy certainly falls in that bracket.

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Looking at things from the Shaughnessy’s perspective, he certainly needs a fresh start to his career away from West Yorkshire. At 24, he’s no longer a promising youngster and it’s time for him to start delivering on his potential. However, he needs to play regular first-team football to fulfil his promise, something that’s just not going to happen at Elland Road.

That said, Leeds bringing a premature end to the Irishman’s ill-fated spell would be a fair settlement for all parties involved.