One of the brighter stories at Leeds United this season is how Daniel Farke is trusting the young players.
This season alone, the Leeds boss has handed debuts to three Thorp Arch graduates. Farke is continuing from last year where he trusted Archie Gray; the teenager played 44 out of a possible 46 games in the Championship. Leeds finished third in the league with 90 points and scored 81 goals last year.
The club missed out on automatic promotion but reached the Championship playoff final in May. Leeds lost to Southampton; and the failure to achieve Premier League football lead to some departures in the summer.
Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter joined Premier League clubs for over €100million combined.
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Daniel Farke has given debuts to Charlie Crew, James Debayo and Samuel Chambers this season. Crew is a midfielder, Chambers is a forward and Debayo is a defender. The trio have heavily featured for the Leeds U21 side in the Premier League 2. Chambers also plays for the U18 team.
Debayo has been recently linked with a loan move to Portsmouth. The 19-year old defender made his first senior team appearance against Swansea on Sunday. He was part of a group of players on the touch line being instructed by Daniel Farke in an incident during the game.
Portsmouth are in the market for a defender ahead of January transfer window, and Debayo looks like he fits the bill. Daniel Farke said earlier this season that the young defender was ready for first team football, and even hinted that Debayo would be the backup defender to Pascal Struijk this season:
“Yes we also have other options,” Farke said. “I am pretty pleased at the moment for example with how James Debayo develops. Yes, it is always a proper solution to play with Joe and Ethan, we don’t have to speak about them.”
Should James Debayo be allowed to leave on loan?
Debayo being trusted to come on late in a close game shows that Daniel Farke trusts him. This season, the club have had two fit first team center backs in Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk. Max Wöber just started to regain match fitness, which could mean Debayo may be the club’s first option off the bench in case of injury. A loan move for the 19-year should be reviewed in January, depending on the health of other options available.
