Where next for Luke Ayling and Leeds United after reaching Premier League dreamland the hard way?

Just days remain now between a player whose hopes of playing in the top flight came crashing down around him a decade ago when he was released by Arsenal, and a potential first-ever appearance in the Premier League.

For the vast majority of footballers who leave elite clubs to try and make their way in the Football League, there is often a solid career as a professional if they possess enough talent and a will to work, but making it back to the very top is a truly special achievement.

Ayling has done it the hard way, perhaps not to the same degree as Jamie Vardy because he never dropped lower than League One, but he did have to fight his way out of that division twice, winning the play-offs with Yeovil Town and then going up again, this time as a champion, with Bristol City.

There were those at Ashton Gate who felt the right-back had reached his ceiling and their assessment paved the way for a move to Leeds, who made him a champion again and subsequently a Premier League player.

Marcelo Bielsa rightly gets credited for transforming a mid-table Championship team into the best side outside the top flight, but there had to be something there for him to work with, a professionalism and willingness to buy into the method, the madness and the murderball. Talent, too, was present, or players like Ayling would simply not have been able to play the fascinating fluid football Bielsa has brought to England.

A combination of the head coach’s genius and Ayling’s ability has brought more passes, key passes and shots per game than ay any other stage in his league career.

He has become an attacking force, scoring half of his career goals under Bielsa and registering 10 assists in the last two seasons, having managed eight in his previous four campaigns combined.

Having smashed through the ceiling placed over his career by the expectations of others, he and his fellow Whites are in dreamland and wondering just how good they can be.

“Everyone dreams of playing in this league,” said the 29-year-old.

“They will all be hard games, but the boys can’t wait to challenge themselves and see what we can do.

“We’ve not really spoken about what we’re expecting to do, we’re just going to go out there, work hard, play our football and, hopefully, get some results.”

Leeds have come to rely on Ayling for more than just his playing ability; he is one of Bielsa’s leaders and showed it time and time again last season, on and off the pitch.

It was never more evident than at Birmingham when he refused to let a topsy-turvy game get away from the Whites, scoring and making late goals in a 5-4 thriller, or at Nottingham Forest when he stepped up for post-match press duties after a galling defeat, despite his own morale visibly sinking to its lowest ebb.

What you get from Ayling when he makes public statements on behalf of Leeds United, like a number of their dressing room generals, is honesty and a level head.

And, as Leeds attempt to take their unique style to the Premier League and make it work, he’s promising fans, who have just got used to the idea of success, nothing more than their best effort in an alien and hostile environment.

“We’re a very close bunch, we’ve been working hard in this off season to give ourselves the best opportunity and I’m sure the other teams will be looking at us and thinking it will be a hard game as well,” he said.

“There are going to be a lot of tough games and we might not be winning all of them like we’re used to, but we are certainly going to be out there trying our best every game.

“I don’t think we have really spoken about that [expectations] much. It’s going to be a hard season.

“There are going to be many tough games.

“We haven’t really spoken about what we’re expecting to get. We’ll just go out and work hard, play our football and, hopefully, get some results.”

That attitude, harnessed by Bielsa has taken Leeds and Ayling to the very place they wanted to go and they’ll arrive at Anfield, in dreamland, on Saturday. The question now is, where next?