Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has revealed their loan plans for young starlets Alfie McCalmont and Ryan Edmondson ahead of the January transfer window.
In his pre-match press conference Bielsa said that he will be considering sending his youngsters out on loan in order to gain regular first team football.
McCalmont and Edmondson are high-flying stars at Elland Road and both featured for Leeds under-23s against Sheffield Wednesday on Monday afternoon.
Both youngsters have made their senior debuts for the Whites, McCalmont in an EFL Cup game and Edmondson in the 2017/18 season.
With the teenagers on the fringes of the first-team squad, Bielsa now believes is the right time to consider sending them out to a team further down the football pyramid.
“A decision is something we have to take in January”, Bielsa said. “Always we are going to do the best thing for their development. I know why you are asking about Alfie and Ryan because there are a lot of players like them who deserve pressure like that.”]
Both McCalmont and Edmondson have made two appearances each for Leeds this season and it would need to be the right decision for Bielsa to send them out on loan as he sometimes prefers to retain them and have them in and around the first team squad if he believes this would benefit them more.
With the Championship being a long, hard season it could make more sense for Bielsa to keep the players he has at his disposal but with McCalmont and Edmondson both highly unlikely to break into the first-team on a regular basis, a loan deal for both players may be a wise decision.
