If he’s not going to get the opportunity, perhaps it’s time somebody else did.
According to a report from Football Insider, people within Leeds United are expecting Arsenal to recall Eddie Nketiah in the January transfer window over a lack of minutes at Elland Road since the start of the campaign.
Now whilst this might explain why Leeds United are one of the clubs interested in bringing in Liverpool forward Rhian Brewster, I’m more concerned about what is going to happen between now and when Nketiah heads back to the Emirates, if that indeed will be the case. When you combine that with his current injury problems, with Marcelo Bielsa saying that he still isn’t ready to return to training following his lower abdominal injury, there’s only really one course of action to take.
If the higher-ups at Leeds believe that Nketiah is going back, then I think it’s time that they start planning as if that were going to be the case.
This should act as the perfect opportunity to give some of the younger players a chance to shine in the first team ahead of the January transfer window. With Nketiah’s place in the first-team gone, quite possibly for good, then the club need to consider bringing up more of the academy players into the matchday eighteen.
Someone like Ryan Edmondson for instance, who has been banging them in for the academy side, why not give him a chance on the bench to give Patrick Bamford some rest at the end of games, or to see if he can bring something different.
At least then if he is a success, Leeds can save themselves the bother of chasing after Brewster, and just promote him into the first team full-time, that way they save money on Brewster’s wages, and they get to say they’ve given youth a chance.
Should Edmondson feature more in Bielsa's plans?
Yes, absolutely
No, he isn't ready yet
If they’re already getting things in line for the future, then why look for the next six months? Why not go the whole hog and see if they’ve got someone on their books for the next six years?