Leeds United’s teenage duo Ryan Edmondson and Jack Clarke are among a trio of young talents who are on the brink of being the next breakthrough starlets in the first team under Marcelo Bielsa, according to reliable journalist Phil Hay.
The Yorkshire Evening Post reporter, one of the most revered writers covering events at Elland Road, states on his personal Twitter account that the 17-year-old attacking pair are joined by left back Tom Pearce, who already has game time under his belt for the senior side, in becoming part of the first team.
The likes of Clarke/Edmondson/Pearce look closest. Not sure Bielsa will dig too much deeper into the U23s than that.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) September 19, 2018
Clarke and Edmondson both featured on the substitute’s bench against Millwall, with the latter of the two having played for just over 15 minutes at the end of last season, and it is stated by Hay that Bielsa is unlikely to bring any more youngsters into the team.
Opinion
The faith that Bielsa has in this teenage duo seems to be growing week by week, although the lack of attacking options up top has forced the manager’s hand a bit. With Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford both out of action, it has given the young forwards the opportunity to show the Argentine boss what they can bring to the side in training, and it was obviously enough to convince him to give them both a place on the bench over the weekend. Chances are they will drop back into the under-23 setup once the more senior stars do return to action, but it seems they are not too far away from sealing the step up that they so desperately want on a more permanent basis. However, does it therefore show a mistake in the summer window, where they failed to recruit enough firepower up top? Perhaps, but maybe Bielsa had had a little word in his ear about the talented twosome in the reserves.