Leeds United set a lot of stock in recruiting and bringing through younger talents in order to develop them into top players. Not only a smart strategy financially, it also ensures a constant flow of youth into the side.
That was the idea when Leeds recruited Lewis Bate from Chelsea last season for a fee of £1.58m for an 18-year-old without a single appearance for the first team. One of the most highly rated central midfielders coming through in the youth ranks, the idea was that Bate would get the opportunities to grow in the Premier League.
Lewis Bate & Jamie Shackleton not included. Lot of talk of loan moves for both. Luke Ayling (knee) continues his recovery at Thorp Arch. #lufc
— Adam Pope (@apopey) July 9, 2022
Yet so far it hasn’t worked out for either party. After his first season in Yorkshire Bate has made just four senior appearances amounting 191 minutes in total. Three of those came in the Premier League and the other coming in the FA Cup, where he was hooked at half-time against West Ham.
The latest blow to Bate’s progression is being left out of Leeds’ preseason tour to Australia. The English midfielder will stay in Yorkshire and train there, but it’s a clear sign that manager Jesse Marsch does not trust him for next season.
Journalist Adam Pope reported that both Bate and fellow midfielder Jamie Shackleton are being linked with a loan move out of the club.
While it’s important not to place too much importance on a disappointing year at such an early stage in Bate’s career, Leeds will be hoping a loan move can kickstart his progression and they can see some return on their investment.
Well let’s hope this is just a loan cos this kid has potential. Not exactly his fault that he had to sit on the bench to cover injuries and not get so many games last season
Totally agree
Well most of this young players are eager to move to other club without considering their future that they needed maturity to be able to make it in their career.Wishing him all the best in his future career
Agree fully. These youngsters cannot wait it out and fight for a spot. They want a first team spot asap. Training is the best route, with the coach having to be impressed enough to give them a slot. And it is also on the training ground that they get their maturity and and also input and mentoring from the more established players. Opportunities can come suddenly with injuries so patience is very important, but patience seems to have gone out the window in this world. MOT.
Poor Journalism
Headline shocker, this is just a loan to give him game time.
Completely agree, he’s going on loan,same as Charlie,Jamie and Roberts
Not given a chance to shine, a decent run in the first team when we had so many injuries would have helped him and the team no doubt, no point in investing in youth if you don’t show faith and trust in promoting to first team.