Championship

McKinstry can be another young Leeds gem – View

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Image for McKinstry can be another young Leeds gem – View

OPINION

It is a measure of the potential of Motherwell wonderkid Stuart McKinstry that Leeds have had to fend off a last-gasp hijack from an established Premier League club to agree terms with him.

The Championship leaders have hit the jackpot by winning the race ahead of Southampton to settle a deal with the Scottish Premiership club for the winger, 16.

The Scottish Sun report Leeds are set to pay an initial £150,000 for McKinstry rising to a potential £400,000 after finalising terms this week when the teenager travelled to Yorkshire.

It is said that he will remain at Motherwell for the rest of the season before joining up with Leeds at pre-season training in July.

This is smart business from Leeds, who have been in the market for young players with the potential to be stars of the future ever since Andrea Radrizzani took over the club two years ago.

Some of those deals have not worked out, but the club have had far more success in recruiting from the British market as opposed to from overseas, when there are cultural and language hurdles for players to mount.

McKinstry should find himself more at home in a Leeds youth team set-up that has looked in rude health this season.

There has been a clear pathway from the age-group to senior side since Marcelo Bielsa took over, generally shunned the senior player transfer market and instead placed boundless faith in the young guns at Thorp Arch.

Jack Clarke and Bailey Peacock-Farrell have both had lengthy first-team stints, while the likes of Leif Davis, Jamie Shackleton, Will Huffer and Jordan Stevens have also been promoted to the senior ranks and had extended spells in the matchday 18.

Should McKinstry demonstrate the right attitude, progress as Leeds hope he might and get a bit of luck along the way, he could follow them into the first team.

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