This is a tough one to work out.
Leeds United’s U23s took on Millwall’s U23s yesterday at Thorp Arch as Carlos Corberan as they kicked off the defence of their PDL Title. The match ended 3-2 to United, but I’m not here to talk about the match itself.
One of the biggest queries for me, and a few of the United fans before kick-off, was how strong the line-up was, predominantly in attack with the likes of Helder Costa named in the starting line-up and Eddie Nketiah on the bench.
Now I don’t have a major concern for Helder Costa being relegated to the youth side, because Leeds have already agreed to buy him next summer, so as a result, you don’t have to rush him into the side. Of course, I’d like to see him in the first team, he’s shown how he can dominate in this division and the more he plays the better the team is.
However, I do have an issue with the fact Eddie Nketiah has found himself relegated to the youth side just two days before the senior side take on Brentford in the Championship.
As Football Insider reported, then my colleague Kyle Archer further elaborated on, Leeds are in danger of facing a financial penalty if they don’t give Eddie Nketiah a certain amount of game time this season. And given how Leeds aren’t exactly rolling in money as things stand, can they really afford to let him stagnate by making him sit on the bench and giving him brief cameos with the academy. If the plan is also to give him some minutes against Brentford, aren’t you just risking giving him burnout by playing that much in such a short space of time?
Whilst it is going to be hard for him to make his way into the first team in Patrick Bamford carries on his form to start the season, if it is in Leeds’ best interests financially to play Nketiah in the first team, then that should be the first priority. At the end of the day, he still Arsenal’s player, so his overall development isn’t that important so long as you can balance the books at the end of it. You have to look after your own interests before anyone else’s.