Looks like a lot of pundits are paying attention to Leeds United this season.
Although after last year, and the start to this season, can you really blame them? In a ‘takes one to know one’ situation, one of Leeds’ young players has caught the eye of former Premier League striker Darren Bent. Specifically, on-loan Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah. Speaking to FootballInsider Bent said:
“If he gets a certain amount of games, he will score goals. If he’s not going to get the opportunities at Arsenal, you never know (about a permanent move), if he impresses at Leeds and gets them up, you never know. I believe he can score goals at the highest level.”
Here is where I would air somewhat on the side of caution. As I have said before, I was sceptical about Nketiah when he first arrived, and whilst I have been impressed with what he has done so far in a Whites shirt, I think we need to calm it down slightly on him. It is far too early for us to be talking about him being able to score at a Premier League level just yet.
As I said after he scored the winner against Brentford last week, it is all well and good being caught up in the hype and hyperbole when he is scoring goals in this division, but we A) don’t know if he’ll be able to sustain this for a whole season B) don’t know if he’ll be able to do it in the Premier League. There have been numerous cases of players who did exceptionally well in this division, but couldn’t quite replicate it in the top division, guys like David Nugent, Jordan Rhodes and Luciano Becchio.
I must stress that I do hope he does well, scores 20 for Leeds this season, gets us promoted and then does the same next year. However, I just want to see his ability played out over a longer period of time rather than jumping on the hype train after just a couple of matches.
I mentioned yesterday that I thought Ben White should be the man that Leeds sign permanently, now whilst he’s only played a handful of games for United as well, at least White has a history of senior football to fall back on, whereas Nketiah only had a sprinkling here and there.
Can we wait until at least after Christmas to see if this form can play itself out for a long stretch, rather than a quick burst?