2024 has been the year of fringe players coming to the fore at Leeds United. During the final couple of months of 2023, Daniel Farke had found a really settled starting XI but back-to-back losses over the festive period forced him to undergo somewhat of a rethink. Patrick Bamford, Junior Firpo and Willy Gnonto have all stepped up to the plate in the last few weeks, but there is perhaps one man who stands above everyone else. That is Ilia Gruev. Gruev had started just two matches in four months following his late summer arrival from Werder Bremen on deadline day, but has not come out of the sid…