The Slovenian made his Premier League debut nine games into Leeds United's campaign
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
15:29, 25 Oct 2025
Isaac Johnson
Isaac is the Leeds United reporter for LeedsLive. An NCTJ-qualified journalist, Isaac has interviewed many football icons during his career, including World Cup winners and Premier League champions. He has also sat down with a number of Olympic greats, such as Adam Peaty MBE and Dame Laura Kenny.
Jaka Bijol gets his first taste of the Premier League
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Jaka Bijol gets his first taste of the Premier League(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
On the face of it, Jaka Bijol’s Premier League debut came as a result of needing a change at the back. But Leeds United boss Daniel Farke would go on to outline that there were more layers to his decision.
Bijol had made clear over the international break that he was eager to get his league bow, although he understood why Pascal Struijk had kept his spot. But illness to the Dutchman this week forced him to miss a training session, unlike Bijol.
Farke revealed after Friday’s 2-1 win against West Ham that, actually, the week had been a lot more fractured than had he had let on in Wednesday’s press conference. Ethan Ampadu was another to suffer the illness that seems to be sweeping across the country right now.
But Farke indicated that more were under the weather and that others had taken slight knocks in training - all while some were still getting back up to full fitness from their own injuries. It meant for a tough call on his line up for Farke.
He had indicated that he would not risk more than a handful of players with question marks over them and those selected were Ampadu and Noah Okafor. With Struijk ill during the week and perhaps then not at full throttle, Bijol was given the nod.
But that was not the only reason he was picked. “The quality of Jaka - this is why we signed him.," Farke explained.
"Also, I think it was beneficial for him to have two 90 minutes during the international break for his national country [Slovenia] And also two clean sheets.
“You could feel his confidence was growing. I think his performances on the training pitch, especially after he came back from the International break, was excellent.”
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It’s that last part which should give fringe players hope about getting game time. The likes of Lukas Nmecha, Ilia Gruev and Joel Piroe are all going to struggle for prolonged minutes this season and it doesn’t look as though that will change soon.
Yet at the same time, it should give them hope that putting in the effort in training is not for nothing. No player is guaranteed to keep up good form and then it is about them showing why they should be the next in line.
In turn, that will give them the chance to make their mark and keep their place in the team. Sean Longstaff is the perfect example of that. And Brenden Aaronson, man of the match against West Ham, was selected ahead of Wilfried Gnonto against Fulham due to training efforts.
If you are a substitute, then training sessions have to be your matchday. From there, anything can happen. Farke’s philosophy of sticking with players who take their chance means all those minutes on the training pitch are never in vain.
If you’re not the first pick, make sure you are next in line. Then when your chance comes, grasp it.
While a bit rough around the edges, Bijol did that on his Premier League debut and you can expect him to start against Brighton & Hove Albion next weekend.
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