Leeds United football writer Beren Cross believes Ian Poveda may well feature in the club’s next fixture.
Last season, Poveda made 14 Premier League appearances for Leeds, and at one point the 21-year-old seemed like he could potentially go on and feature more regularly with the club.
Since then, however, it has been reported the youngster has fallen out of favour with the club – a claim seemingly proven by the fact that he has yet to feature even on the bench so far this season for the senior team.
Despite the clouds that seem to currently shroud his future at Leeds, Cross has claimed that Poveda may well play against Crewe Alexandra this week in the Carabao Cup.
While speaking on a Leeds United Live Facebook video, Cross said: “We’ve got Crewe on Tuesday, which again, should be a fairly mixed side. You’d think Costa, Rodrigo may start.
“Poveda, the missing man so far this season, if he’s not injured, we should see him.”
TIF Thoughts on Ian Poveda and Leeds…
One reason Poveda may be deemed surplus to requirements at the club is 19-year-old winger Crysencio Summerville. The talented academy player seems to be knocking on the door of the first team and may well be a preferred option ahead of Poveda, so the midweek game should be a pointer as to where both players stand in Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.
As per a recent report from Phil Hay, if the Leeds winger is to leave the club this window, it looks as though he has a good chance of heading to Blackburn Rovers on loan.
Still, if Poveda does get a chance to impress against Crewe – or excels on loan – perhaps the door to his Leeds future won’t be shut just yet.
After all, his talent as a youngster was so high, the academy staff at former club Brentford used to refer to him as ‘The Wizard’.