According to Daniel Farke, Mateo Joseph will play a ‘important role’ for Leeds United.
Leeds United star Mateo Joseph will play a “important part” for the club in the short and long term as he recovers from injury, according to manager Daniel Farke.
Farke stated that Joseph impressed him during pre-season training and warm-up games, some of which were held behind closed doors as they prepared for the Championship season.
He had been out with an ankle injury suffered only days before the season began [BBC, 4 August], but Dr Rajpal Brar told MOT Leeds News that he is now able to play 90 minutes, and Farke has confirmed Joseph’s sharpness in training.
“Sadly, he had this long-term injury,” Farke told the Yorkshire Evening Post ahead of the Southampton game. “As a young player who is just on his way into first team football, it’s never easy if you are out for more or less two months and then need a little bit longer to get back in shape.”
“But on the training pitch, he looks really sharp, and we’re thinking about giving him some minutes whenever possible in the under 21s to give him a bit of feel for the positioning but also the feel for a normal game, but if he’s capable of impressing, he’ll have a chance to be selected for the travelling squad.”
“He was, for example, in the previous game, and we obviously had a few injury concerns in the previous game with Willy Gnonto, and Patrick was also not 100 percent available.”
“For that, we are happy that Mateo was available and I’m quite sure that in the mid and long-term future of this club, he will play a pretty important role and I’m pleased with him.”
He has high hopes for the future.
There are huge expectations for Joseph, both for his future at Elland Road and as a player. At only 19 years old, he is clearly well recognized and appreciated by the Leeds staff, and Farke’s enthusiastic appreciation of the attacker demonstrates just how brilliant he is.
With Joseph providing active competition and cover for the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville, Joel Piroe, and Georginio Rutter, being able to practice and play with such quality players can only be a good thing for him.
The return of Patrick Bamford from injury will have harmed his chances slightly, but the manager’s comments will allay any fears of falling down the pecking order, as his availability is clearly valued and will be relied on as fixture congestion increases.
An abundance of talented players is never a bad thing in the Championship, and fans can now expect to see Joseph given his chance to shine as the fixture schedule tightens in the slog of the winter months.
In unrelated Leeds United news, the club may need to seek funds to let a forgotten guy to go.
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