OPINION
Leeds sealed a deal for 16-year-old Motherwell midfielder Stuart McKinstry on Thursday, according to Football Insider, and it’s more proof that the club is moving in the right direction under Andrea Radrizzani and director of football Victor Orta.
The deal for McKinstry, said to be worth up to £400,000, is a significant one. The 16-year-old is seen as one of the brightest young talents in Scotland and he’s made the Motherwell first-team bench already.
According to Football Insider, Leeds beat Southampton to his signature, and that says a lot about how the club is viewed at the moment from the outside.
A holistic approach at Leeds has seen many Under-23s make the move up to the first-team, such as Jack Clarke. And Leeds are looking to do the double with their senior side after their Under-23s side won the PDL North title already.
Manager Marcelo Bielsa watches most of the Under-23s games and in Carlos Corberan they have a coach who could go on and succeed Bielsa when he leaves.
The result has been a club where fans are fully invested in the Under-23 side, more so than any other club we can think of.
And in Bielsa, they have a manager who is willing to give them a chance in a club on the brink of a return to the Premier League.
Orta is quietly building young talent at the club. Mateusz Bogusz arrived in January and he’s already turning heads and could be knocking on the door of the first-team next season.
McKinstry is the start of the next wave and his deal will become a three-year pro contract when he turns 17 in September.
Leeds are getting all the pieces of the jigsaw in the right place. The only unknown at the moment is where they’ll be playing football next season.
But if it’s not the Premier League there’s a chance it could all come crashing down in the summer, which would be a real footballing tragedy.