Leeds United should look to send youth prospect Stuart McKinstry away from Elland Road on a season-long loan deal after agreeing to a new three-year contract.
The club announced that McKinstry had penned new terms over the weekend, with the 17-year-old putting his signature to a deal that keeps the winger at Thorp Arch until the summer of 2023.
McKinstry moved to West Yorkshire from former academy side Motherwell last summer and enjoyed a strong debut year with the Whites, making 14 appearances for the Under 18s before graduating to Carlos Corberan’s U23s.
Corberan awarded McKinstry seven outings before leaving Leeds to become the new Huddersfield Town head coach, in which the Spaniard saw the attacker net twice. The Scotland U18 international also fired home once against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Youth Cup last term to ensure Leeds’ progression to face Manchester United in the Fifth Round.
Now that McKinstry has a taste of youth action under his belt and in a system similar to how Marcelo Bielsa sets United out to play, he would stand to benefit from a run of game time in a senior fold but that is unlikely to be on offer at Elland Road following our promotion to the Premier League.
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McKinstry is yet to earn his senior debut and failed to break into the first-team at Motherwell on a regular basis, having only sat on the bench as an unused substitute once before moving south of the border in 2019.
If the option to send the winger to a Championship, League One or Scottish Premiership outfit arises before the window for domestic transfers closes on October 16, then Director of Football Victor Orta and Bielsa must agree that it would be the best next step of McKinstry’s budding career.
Life competing for minutes in the second- or third-tier of English football against proven teammates would offer the 5 ft 10 prospect a great learning opportunity of what it will take to make the grade back at Elland Road, while – hopefully – having game time in his pocket and evidence of what he is capable of displaying on the pitch.