Two foreign trialists have linked up with Leeds’ Under 23 development squad, hoping to achieve professional contracts at the club, and have been named in the starting XI to face Crew Alexandra this afternoon.
Two unfamiliar names were included in the under 23 starting lineup for the trip to Crewe in the Development League 2 fixture; goalkeeper Mory Diaw and defender Julio Lopez. It has been revealed that the duo have recently arrived at the club on trial, and the club are clearly willing to test them by throwing them in at the deep end in a competitive under 23 fixture.
Diaw is a 23 year old French Goalkeeper who is currently number one for Portuguese Premier Division side C.D. Marfa. The 6ft 6in keeper was previously on the books of French giants Paris St. Germain, however only ever featured for the first team in a 17minute cameo in a friendly and mainly played in the PSG reserve side. Arguably his most noticeable actions while at the French side was a number of aggressive and obscene messages Tweeted on his Twitter account about both PSG and their star man at the time Zlatan Ibrahimovic which went viral, until deleted a short while later. The messages included Zlatan’s phone number and captions encouraging his followers to message the current Manchester United man, however were later confirmed by the club as a hacker on Diaw’s account.
United’s other trialist Julio Lopez is a former Spanish under 18 and 19 international and is currently on a youth loan at fellow Yorkshire side Barnsley from Spanish club Sporting Gijon. The 21 year old centre back has yet to feature for Barnsley’s first team after arriving last summer. The youngster featured heavily for Sporting’s B team and registered 76 appearances after progressing his way through their well respected and highly rated academy, however has yet to make a first team appearance for the Spanish side.
The duo both have impressive backgrounds after being brought up through two well known clubs, however it is yet to be seen if their ability reflects on their profiles and grant themselves deals at Elland Road.
