Joe Lumley was at Thorp Arch this summer, joined Southampton over Leeds United
Goalkeeper Joe Lumley had been training with the Leeds United squad at Thorp Arch during pre-season as a free agent before deciding to move on and join Championship rivals Southampton instead, according to Phil Hay.
The Athletic journalist shared on 25 September that 28-year-old Lumley, having been released by Reading following their relegation last season, briefly joined the Leeds squad before moving on to Southampton.
He was clearly seen as an option to bolster the goalkeeping position in Daniel Farke’s side, but his lack of game time for Southampton so far suggests he would never have been more than a backup at Elland Road.
His arrival wouldn’t have changed much
This news comes despite Leeds being relatively strong in the goalkeeping department, with Illan Meslier unexpectedly staying in Yorkshire despite the general expectation that he would be among the names to leave the club this summer.
Leeds also moved to sign Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow for a fee of around £400,000, and he was expected to be the number one. It seems Lumley would have slotted in as his understudy had he arrived and Meslier left, but ultimately that situation never came to be.
The now-Southampton shot-stopper is yet to make his debut for the South Coast side, with Irish international Gavin Bazunu remaining the undisputed number one despite the team’s recent struggles and his own poor displays last season.
Ultimately, whichever plan may have been in place for Lumley at Elland Road, he would have been no more than a third choice given the way the transfer window eventually panned out, so the fact he opted not to stay is no considerable blow.
In other Leeds United news, the club could be forced to sell a key player with a Premier League side on “red alert”.