Phil Hay has been speaking on his podcast about what the future looks like for new Leeds United signing Lewis Bate.
The former Chelsea midfielder was signed by Leeds earlier this summer but he is expected to be a signing for the under-23s, rather than making his mark in the Premier League this season with him still being just 18-years old.
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Bate is still yet to make a first-team appearance of any kind, having spent all of his career thus far in Chelsea’s reserve and younger sides, but with Leeds still unable to bring in another central midfielder so far this summer, although they are potentially close to doing so in the form of Lewis O’Brien, Bate may be handed a chance if injuries occur.
Hay offered his verdict on what he thinks the future may look like for Bate, hinting that the preference within Thorp Arch was for him to remain with the academy side for the most part:
“My understanding with Bate, a really talented U23 though he is, was that he was going to be an U23 signing and he was going to go into this emerging talent group which is between the first-team squad and the academy squad, but I certainly don’t think the plan was for Lewis Bate to be heavily, heavily involved in this season.”
TIF Thoughts on Bate and Leeds…
It appears very clear that Marcelo Bielsa is wanting to bring in a new central midfielder this summer with the likes of O’Brien and Conor Gallagher touted for moves, although the latter decided to snub Leeds for Crystal Palace.
Although Bielsa may want to see what Bate can do in the U23 side first before launching him into Premier League action given his inexperience and how big of a role he may be tasked with if he came in for someone as important as Kalvin Phillips.