Former Leeds United midfielder Matt Grimes has been speaking to the Konversations with Kenji podcast, and has revealed what he thinks has been the biggest mistake of his career.
Grimes, who plays for Swansea City, was signed by Leeds United in 2016 on a season-long loan from the Swans.
However, he only made 12 appearances for the club before he moved back to Wales, and now the 24-year-old has been discussing why he thought he was guaranteed to play every week at Leeds.
Grimes claims that he thought because he knew Garry Monk, he would be guaranteed game time.
Here is what he had to say in full about his time at Elland Road (via the Yorkshire Evening Post):
“The biggest mistake I made going to Leeds, I thought, ‘I’ve played in the Championship, I’m coming from a Premier League team to a Championship team, I know the manager, Garry Monk at the time, I’m guaranteed to play’.
“That is the biggest mistake I’ve made in my career to date, and hopefully I don’t make another one like it.
“I was a little bit naive to the size of club Leeds were. As a youngster at the time, I didn’t realise how big a club it was, and the fanbase.”
It seems that Grimes realises where he went wrong and admits that he made an error of judgement.
Are you angry Grimes didn't know how big Leeds were?
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TIF Thoughts…
Grimes was not a success with the Whites, but with Swansea, he has made 95 appearances and is now the captain of the club, so maybe he has learned his lesson.
The midfielder is still only 24 and has racked up 231 club appearances (including two for Swansea’s Under-23s), so despite struggling at Elland Road for game time, it appears he has clearly learned from his time with the Whites.
However, it seems odd that he didn’t think Leeds were that big considering they have won nine major trophies in their history and they are seen as the 12th-biggest club in the country (according to a recent Sky Sports study).
However, maybe Grimes deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt. He has admitted he made a mistake and has clearly learned from it.