OPINION
The summer of 2017 was a hit-and-miss one for Leeds United when it came to new signings, with many of the new arrivals failing to live up to expectation in what was a bitterly disappointing season.
From the likes of Pierre-Michel Lasogga to Vurnon Anita, there were too many players among the first team squad who failed to make the grade and that contributed to the poor finish suffered by the club.
One man who was widely panned as another flop signing was striker Jay-Roy Grot, the youngster – now 20 – managing to score just one goal in his 22 appearances for the club.
Like many of the other signings from last summer, Grot found himself shipped out a year on, heading to VVV-Venlo on a season-long loan deal.
At the time of the exit, director of football Victor Orta promised that the young talent still had a bright future and could return to the club to make a surprise comeback, with the hope that the temporary deal at the Eredivisie side could help his development.
Now, with two goals in 11 appearances fans might doubt whether the imposing striker is looking like making the grade at Elland Road at the end of the season, but with eight of those coming as starts, in comparison to one starting XI at Leeds, he certainly seems to be impressing to some degree.
In fact, his performances are not only catching the eye domestically but on the international stage, with reliable Dutch football news outlet Football Oranje revealing on Twitter that Grot had been named among the Netherlands Under-21 squad on Friday.
Plenty of debutantes in the Netherlands U21 squad including Tahith Chong (Man Utd), Nathangelo Markelo (Everton), Deroy Duarte (Sparta) and Kaj Sierhuis (Ajax) pic.twitter.com/8bvaSgIapJ
— Dutch Football ?? (@FootballOranje_) November 9, 2018
Grot might not be banging in the goals – which is what many Leeds fans will look at and disregard him for it – but his overall performances are obviously heading in the right direction, and no one can ignore the fact he is being recognised by his country.
Being named alongside the likes of highly rated talent Justin Kluivert shows the youngster is on course to make that comeback at Elland Road, which would be a real turnaround for both player and club.