Leighton Baines: The Premier League’s Best Left-Back With An Unclear Future

Since his arrival at Merseyside in the summer of 2007, Leighton Baines has been serving as the crucial icon in Everton’s campaign every season. Free-kicks, long range shooting, aerial prowess and putting in valuable crosses are notable features of the English international.

Baines started his senior career with Wigan Athletic in 2002 in the lower division of English football. He played a pivotal role in promoting the Wigan side to the Premier League in 2005, and spent a further two seasons with the Latics before signing for Everton in 2007. Everton paid £6m for the Englishman, and considering his time at Goodison, Baines was a bargain for the Toffees.

Baines is seriously vulnerable to the opponents in Toffees’ attack, and capable of taking a role in defense when emergency cover is very much needed. The return of Steven Pienaar in 2012 has made Baines a complete player, as his partnership with the South African on the left flank has been working wonders.

The dominance of Ashley Cole in world football for the past 8-10 years has made Baines the second choice left-back in the international team. When England appointed Roy Hodgson as their new manager in March 2012, it was expected that Baines would be preferred as first choice left-back for Euros.

But, Hodgson too fell under the category of managers who showed much more faith in Cole. But he did have a very good tournament in Ukraine-Poland, though he missed the penalty in the shoot-out against Italy in the quarter finals.

Baines has been linked with many of the top Premier League sides since last summer, with Manchester United and Chelsea among the suitors. The decline of Patrice Evra and likely departure of Ashley Cole will push the Premier League giants to impose interesting bids for Baines.

Manchester United’s Alexander Buttner has featured only once in the Premier League so far. This shows a lack of trust, and indicates that the Red Devils will certainly look for a left-back – and Baines will surely be on their radar come this summer.

Ashley Cole’s changed his mind about leaving Stamford Bridge a few weeks ago, but even so, Chelsea have been linked with Baines. They have a ready-made replacement however, in the form of Ryan Bertrand. He made his Champions League debut in the final against Munich and put up an impressive performance.

The Chelsea left-back had got some sort of backing from the sacked Roberto Di Matteo. However, the appointment of Rafa Benitez has forced him to spend more time on the bench. If the more experienced Baines is being afforded regular playing time, one can expect a big bid from Roman Abramovich in the summer.

At 28, Baines has some amount of time on his side. I reckon he will be a part of English international team till the 2018 World Cup in Russia. And I’m sure no questions will arise in including Baines in the English squad for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Euros, irrespective of the manager in charge.

Though his place in the starting XI in 2014 World Cup is on hold, there is no doubt that he will soon be a permanent fixture at left-back.