Leeds United left-back Leif Davis has signed a new deal that will keep him contracted to the club until the summer of 2023.
Having only played 13 minutes of Championship football so far this season, it’s good to see that Davis is still fully committed to Leeds and is not frustrated with the lack of game time. The teenager spoke exclusively to LUTV about how he was feeling after signing the three-and-a-half-year deal with the club:
“I’m over the moon, it’s been in the pipeline, but I’m glad it’s all done now and I’m looking forward to kicking on for the next three-and-a-half-years,” said Davis.
“We will see what it brings, but hopefully I’ll be playing in front of 35,000 fans week in week out.”
The 19-year-old praised manager Marcelo Bielsa and credited his progression as a footballer to the Argentine, stating: “I’ve progressed massively, with Marcelo Bielsa he has brought my attack and defensive play on really well and I think I’ve come a long way which I’m really pleased with.”
The young left-back touched on his lack of minutes, which isn’t something Davis is too concerned about right now, but he is looking for a way to play either left-back or centre-back regularly: “It’s been good to get minutes, I need to keep progressing week in week out and hopefully I can go on to get a left-back or centre-back spot.”
Unluckily for Davis, the defender positions at Leeds are highly competitive, however, he could potentially become the first choice left-back much quicker than he could at centre-back.
TIF Tactics – How does Davis start regularly?
Perhaps, the left-back spot is a far easier hunting ground for Leif Davis than central positions, with Leeds lacking a natural player in that position under the age of 27.
Gaetano Berardi can play at left-back, but in the five starts the 31-year-old has had this season, all of them have been at centre-back, so perhaps, the Swiss defender can be ruled out of this position.
Barry Douglas is a player that Davis could potentially replace, with the Scotsman being 30 years old and only managing 333 minutes this season. When Douglas has played, he hasn’t been a major impact in the game, failing to get any goals or assists and averaging a WhoScored rating of just 6.48/10, which isn’t too much better than the 19-year-old’s 6.32/10.
Macedonian left-back Ezgjan Alioski will be the toughest challenge and the young man will likely have to be second in command for a little while, as the 27-year-old is in great form right now, scoring twice in 13 Championship matches. He’s also in great shape for his national side, scoring three times and assisting twice in just five UEFA Nations League D fixtures, whilst having also scored once in the much more difficult European Championship.
TIF Verdict
It’s great to see Leeds United trusting their youth system and quite literally putting their money where their mouth is. It’s going to be tough for Leif Davis to consistently get a place in the starting line-up, however, we believe the 19-year-old can compete for minutes against the older players in his positions.
Hopefully, the young man can start getting longer spells off the bench, even 20 minutes every other match would be a huge benefit Davis’ progression.