Leeds United: Young stars shine on international duty
Leeds United: Young stars shine on international duty
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Of course, some Leeds United players were in under-21 duty for international sides.
00:07 You've got Archie Gray for England, you've got Matteo Joseph for Spain, you've got Willy Nonto for Italy.
00:12 So, again, Leeds players making an impact on the international scene and they all seem to me like relative successors.
00:20 Absolutely, yeah. The way to summarise that is you say the future is bright, there's no doubt about that whatsoever
00:25 and you just hope that that immediate future is in the Premier League next season
00:28 and obviously time will tell over these final seven, eight games.
00:31 But, yeah, all three of them. It's basically a Leeds United hat-trick of impacts really on that one same night.
00:35 In terms of Archie Gray having an assist for the 21s, which obviously followed a goal on his debut for the 21s.
00:41 I mean, that was just typical of his season really.
00:43 Obviously, elevated to that level and then he comes on and then straight away gets his first goal.
00:48 Absolutely incredible stuff. What a talent. We've spoken about him so many times on here already.
00:52 But the reality is he's only going to get better and better.
00:55 He's obviously no longer this 17-year-old now. He's now 18. He's a bit old now, isn't he?
01:01 But, I mean, the whole world ahead, the future ahead of him.
01:03 And he is literally only going to get better and better and even something like playing for the 21s.
01:08 And obviously, Gareth Southgate has already spoken about him.
01:10 You know, dropping his name in the press conference as an option for the midfield for the future.
01:15 I mean, that's going to do wonders for his confidence, not that he's short of confidence anyway.
01:18 And Leeds have got a hugely, hugely exciting talent there.
01:22 A real one-off, there's no doubt about it.
01:24 Matteo Joseph, in his own right, is a very, very talented young player.
01:27 Obviously, scoring on his second outing for Spain under 21s.
01:30 He's an interesting one that he basically had the choice of England or Spain, essentially, internationally.
01:34 And, you know, sort of a few raised eyebrows when he went with Spain.
01:37 But, I mean, he's probably thinking, well, I might make more of an impact there.
01:40 That's not to belittle Spain, obviously, you know, in terms of a huge nation.
01:43 And straight away, he's kind of improved, right? Really scoring straight away on his second game.
01:47 And mad celebrations from him there, as you can imagine. That was a huge moment for him.
01:51 And Willy Nonso is almost like the forgotten one, I suppose, at that level.
01:54 Because, obviously, he's been established for so long, or seems so long, at Leeds.
01:58 You almost forget how young he is. And the fact is, he's 20, Joseph's 20, and Archie's obviously 18.
02:03 So, I mean, all three very, very young.
02:05 But Nonso, at the moment, in the Italy under 21 squad.
02:08 But, obviously, producing the goods for them with an assist the same night as Joseph got his goal.
02:13 And great, got his assist, as I say, at Leeds United.
02:15 Hat-trick of impacts at under 21 level.
02:18 And all three hugely exciting talents. As I say, you forget how young Nonso is.
02:22 So, that's very, very exciting in its own right.
02:24 And, yeah, I mean, the future is extremely bright.
02:27 I mean, obviously, they're the three that are coming through at the moment.
02:30 But the thing is, as you look at Leeds and, obviously, the academy,
02:32 they've got great young players coming through as well.
02:34 I mean, we don't need to over-hype them on here by giving names.
02:37 But one of them might be related to Archie Gray. We'll see what happens in the future there.
02:41 But I'm not going to start mentioning names about his younger brother just yet.
02:45 But there's no doubt there are other ones coming through.
02:47 They are the three that are setting the example at the moment.
02:49 I mean, obviously, Nonso and Archie are first-teamers already.
02:54 You sort of play them every week pretty much.
02:56 Obviously, Nonso, it's a bit difficult because, obviously,
02:58 you've got the winger situation where you can't play all of the wingers.
03:02 But I suppose the big challenge out of those three is Mateo Joseph,
03:04 because you look at him making an impact for Spain under 21s already.
03:08 And a player like that, you would think, with his talent
03:10 and how quickly he's emerging through the ranks as such,
03:14 probably should be starting already for a championship team.
03:17 But that just shows the strength and depth that Leeds have got.
03:20 Because, obviously, you can't just put him straight in
03:22 if you basically have to play him instead of Bamford, I suppose.
03:25 So, the challenge is there for him to get first-team football.
03:28 And he'll be championing at the bit. He's a very exciting young player.
03:30 And the whole future for Leeds United is very exciting. There's no doubt about that.