Leeds United

Leeds United midfielder on trial at Premier League side – bench tonight

Alongside the successful rebirth of Leeds United’s fortunes under Marcelo Bielsa, the building blocks of success present in the Under-23s are beginning to look more like solid foundation stones.

Players at Elland Road play the same brand of football throughout the age groups, meaning that the Under-23s play the same style of BielsaBall that the first-team do. This continuity presents a fluid movement opportunity for players between, say, the Under-18s and the Under-23s as well as between the latter and the first-team at Elland Road.

The Under-23s are currently the Professional Development League North and, also, National champions after a successful campaign last time out. Players such as Jamie Shackleton and Jack Clarke featured extensively last season, the latter earning a £10million move to Premier League Tottenham Hotspur.

The added exposure of players such as Shackleton and Clarke, plus the likes of Lief Davis and Jordan Stevens, means that that avenues are available fr promotion to the first-team. Yet, the improvement of the first-team also acts as something of a double-edged sword in that the mass of Under-23s also struggle to make that all-important breakthrough.

These youngsters often have to look elsewhere for opportunities and the likes of Malik Wilks, Aapo Halme and Paudie O’Connor have already done that during the summer transfer window. Additionally, some of the highly-rated foreign youngsters have also moved on to new clubs with the likes of Oriel Rey and Hugo Diaz returning back to their native Spain.

One Leeds United youngster still looking to move is midfielder Callum Nicell who is currently on the bench for Sheffield United’s Under-23s in their match against their Watford counterparts. Listed by the Academy side’s Twitter account as a ‘Trialist’, confirmation that it is Nicell comes via the official teamsheet.

https://twitter.com/leedsutdacademy/status/1163515044602269697?s=20

The game is currently in the early throes of the second-half and Nicell has yet to make an appearance for a Blades Under-23 side currently trailing by a 1-0 scoreline. With Leeds United looking to trim the fat from their squads even further, Nicell could very well be the next Whites youngster to leave the West Yorkshire club and test the football waters elsewhere.

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