The Leeds United good news story everyone at Elland Road wants in 2021/22

Leeds were a good-news story, fearlessly throwing themselves at top-flight defences from the very first kick-off at Anfield and causing more problems than even the most optimistic of Whites could have hoped for.

Marcelo Bielsa was always going to fascinate the media - he sits on a bucket don’t you know? There were other characters and subplots that helped make the newly-promoted side compelling viewing.

Kalvin Phillips charmed the nation with his smile, his unashamed declarations of love for his family and his full-blooded football. Raphinha lit up the Premier League with Brazilian flair. Precocious Illan Meslier broke top-flight goalkeeping records. Patrick Bamford said what everyone was thinking about VAR, when he wasn’t smashing in goals.

Pascal Struijk was another nice story. The shy youngster who could easily have been swallowed up by his difficult appearance in the disastrous last few minutes against Cardiff in the Championship grew into Premier League life with astonishing ease.

He will be one to watch this season, too. As will Cody Drameh, if he manages to make the breakthrough predicted by CEO Angus Kinnear earlier this week, and prove that the ‘pathway’ talked about so often does exist in a meaningful sense.

It would be satisfying to see the full-back justify the growing hype with a challenge a little more arduous than 23s football. The same can be said for Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood.

It would put smiles on a lot of faces to see local lad Jamie Shackleton play a greater part in Leeds’ second season in the Premier League.

And while a new midfielder arriving before the transfer deadline would ease a lot of pre-season concern, the middle of the park is where one of the most uplifting stories of the Bielsa era could take place between now and next May.

Adam Forshaw has not played a competitive game for more than 22 months but in April of this year managed 80 minutes of an Under-23s’ fixture. He did pick up a minor niggle, which the club half expected given the length of time he had been out, but it was not an injury related to the hip that required surgery and kept him sidelined from September 2019.

After a summer break that allowed him to rest and prepare for pre-season, the 29-year-old was introduced slowly to summer training, working his way into the regime and featuring in five friendly fixtures with the Under-23s.

Although he travelled to Amsterdam, he wasn’t involved against Ajax, but did play in the behind-closed-doors game against Manchester City’s 23s and did well by all accounts.

Leeds are still taking things slowly, building his fitness steadily, leading him towards the next step which will be upping the intensity so he can eventually handle a full game of Bielsaball.

With no concerns over the initial problem which has caused his injury nightmare, Leeds are optimistic but cautious.

If Bielsa is asked about the player at today’s press conference, expect him to exercise the same care with which he has addressed Forshaw’s situation for the past two seasons.

The injury was complicated, the process is a long one.

Throwing him straight back into first-team football simply isn’t an option and Premier League 2 might be as close as he gets to competition initially no matter how desperate he is to taste the real thing, but the mere fact that a comeback is still a possibility after this length of time is a huge positive. If he manages to come back this season and end a period of his life that most, if not all players, would describe as hell, it will be a huge achievement for both player and club, a testament to his guts and determination and the expertise and professionalism of Rob Price and his medical staff.

The tunnel has been long and dark but the light has always been there, however small, waxing and waning. It's still there now.

There will be bigger stories and headlines that attract far more attention, but this is one story everyone at Elland Road wants to see through to a happy ending.