Leeds United: You may be very surprised where these 3 ex-Whites stars are playing now | OneFootball

FLW outline some of the strangest career paths to have been taken by ex-Leeds United players.

Leeds United recently celebrated their 105-year anniversary as a club, and the Whites have had plenty of players play for the club in that time with varying degrees of success.

They did enjoy some recent success in the Premier League, under Marcelo Bielsa's tutelage, and would finish ninth upon their returning season to the top-flight after 16 years away.

However, the majority of their recent history has come in the EFL, which has seen some extraordinary signings in that time, especially during the most chaotic years of the club's existence.

They remain in the Championship in 2024/25 after narrowly missing out on promotion last term; but today we are looking back through time, where many players have passed through the door for Leeds in the second tier in particular.

Here, we take a look at three former Leeds players whose current club in 2024 may now surprise you.

Mirco Antenucci - SPAL

Mirco Antenucci spent most of his time in Italy, having played for the likes of Spezia, Ascoli, SPAL, and Torino; but had a brief stint with Leeds when Massimo Cellino brought him to the club in 2014 from Ternana. He was a decent source of goals at times for the club until 2016, when he joined SPAL.

The Italian scored 19 and assisted a further eight from 80 games for the Whites. The now 40-year-old continues to play and recently was with SSC Bari in Italy's Serie B. He has played the majority of the games in his career for Bari and SPAL, contributing to 138 goals in 296 games so far (all stats per Transfermarkt).

However, he re-joined SPAL again last summer, following the expiration of his deal at Bari. Despite his age, he remains as one of their key attacking players in Italy's third tier, Serie C. They finished mid-table last term but will be eyeing a return to the second tier in 2025.

Pontus Jansson - Malmo

Pontus Jansson was a fan favourite at Elland Road, making 120 appearances and scoring nine goals during his time with the club. He left for Brentford in 2019 after a falling out with Marcelo Bielsa and he would eventually gain promotion and become captain of the Bees.

However, last summer, the 33-year-old left London to rejoin the club where it all started for him. The Swede moved back to his native country to sign for boyhood club Malmö FF and become captain. In 2014, he first left the club to move to Serie A side Torino, whom Leeds signed Jansson from in 2016.

Not only is he playing for Malmö and in the Europa League against sides like Rangers recently, but Jansson is lining up alongside some interesting names. One is Daniel Gudjohnsen, son of Eidur, who is one of Malmö's forwards. Colin Rösler, son of ex-Leeds manager Uwe, has also been his centre-back partner in various fixtures this season already.

Elia Caprile - Napoli

Another Italian with an interesting career path, Elia Caprile joined Leeds' youth set-up in January 2020 from Chievo Verona, and departed in 2022 to join Serie B side SSC Bari. During his stint in West Yorkshire, Caprile mainly featured for the club's U-23 side and received several call-ups to the first-team under manager Marcelo Bielsa.

However, he never made an appearance for the senior side and has had to make a career for himself back in his native country. Having impressed for Bari, the 23-year-old then joined one of Italy's most famous clubs in Serie A giants Napoli last summer, but was loaned out to Empoli immediately.

He helped them retain their Serie A status but is now back in Naples and competing with Alex Meret for the No.1 spot at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Caprile is one of the brightest goalkeeping prospects in European football, and Leeds may feel as though he is one who got away, which not many would have predicted during his early years developing with the club.