Leeds United: starlets contract talks – no movement

One thing that Leeds United can count as a blessing is their youth system and the hard work that goes on to promote from within through their Academy set up.

In last season’s Championship campaign, former Academy graduates Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt and Charlie Taylor proved themselves to be firm first team players with others such as Lewie Coyle playing an important role as well.

Coupled with those players making great strides in making first team appearances, Leeds fans also got to see Kalvin Phillips involved with the first team, as well as players such as highly-rated young keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Ronaldo Viera make their first team debuts.

However, there is obviously a worry that with such a high visibility of good, young players that Leeds will become something of a honey pot for higher league or prestige teams to come dipping into, meaning that players need to be secured in terms of contracts.

The above Tweet from respected BBC journalist, and voice of BBC Radio Leeds’ Leeds United matchday commentary, Adam Pope indicates that there are certain things that might be of a worry to Whites fans – namely the lack of progress in both tying up Peacock-Farrell’s deal and also extending that of Championship Young Player of the Year Lewis Cook.

In the case of keeper Peacock-Farrell, the only out-of-contract player at Elland Road offered terms, the club had issued him with a two-year extension deal and set a deadline for Sunday May 15, a deadline that lapsed with no deal being settled.

The Yorkshire Evening Post (YEP) shed some light onto this situation in a subsequent article saying that: “[he] is understood to have asked United for clarity about the identity of their next head coach, the club’s likely choice for the position of goalkeeping coach and their plans for him next season.”

With none of the precursors to Bailey Peacock-Farrell signing being in place, it is thought that the young keeper has not received the assurances that he was wanting from the club and therefore has let the deadline lapse. The YEP do say that it is worth remembering that he hasn’t actually rejected the club’s offered terms though.

Also worrying is that United haven’t offered an extension to Lewis Cook’s deal which runs out at the end of next season. Cook is one of the gleaming jewels in the Leeds United crown and is both the club’s and Football League’s Young Player of the Year.

The danger there is obviously that his pedigree, enhanced possibly by a series of good performances in the upcoming Under-19 European Championships in Germany could very well see repeated interest from Premier League clubs like what happened with the interest from Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth outfit even as recent as last month.

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