Phil Hay has stated that young midfielder Robbie Gotts is now a “definite” option for Marcelo Bielsa amid discussions that Leeds could enter the market for more cover in January.
What’s he said?
Leeds’ squad is particularly thin on the ground and they’re already stretched for senior options in the middle of the park.
Adam Forshaw, Jamie Shackleton and Tyler Roberts have all missed large portions of the season through injury but with the latter pairing set to return next week, the options for Bielsa should dramatically increase.
Ahead of a busy festive period, this should be absolutely vital for the Whites. However, they also have a number of impressive options within the academy that they could call upon.
Jack Jenkins ‘overshadowed’ Alfie McCalmont for the U23s last Monday, according to Beren Cross, while Mateusz Bogusz is a young player to have earned his senior team debut this term too.
But ahead of all of them is Gotts. Speaking on The Phil Hay Show by the Athletic, the journalist stated the following:
“He’s massively versatile and just can’t quite get over the fence. He’s a definite option and if you spoke to Bielsa, he’d probably prefer the idea of playing Gotts rather than having another centre-mid come in.
“For the sake of argument, if Howson was available and somebody said, ‘why don’t we get Howson in because you’ve then got another midfielder who can help you out?’ I think Bielsa would much rather say, ‘I’ll stick with Gotts because he’s trained with us since the start of the season and I know what he’s doing, I like him. Don’t worry about Howson, don’t spend the money’. That’s how I think it would go.”
Getting over the fence
Whether Gotts can finally take that big step and make his first-team debut remains to be seen but it’s certainly encouraging that he’s so regularly in Bielsa’s thoughts.
In the Championship, the 20-year-old has appeared among the substitutes 26 times but is still yet to actually feature.
In terms of his playing time, he’s very much rarely-seen. However, despite being a definite option, it seems difficult to see how he’ll actually be able to claim a place in the side.
If he can’t get off the bench when Leeds are 3-0 up against Cardiff, it speaks volumes.
Virtually impossible: Can you name the year all of these Leeds flops arrived at Elland Road?
Bielsa has recently admitted that he feels guilty that he hasn’t played him yet, admitting it wouldn’t be a surprise if the versatile prodigy wanted to pack his bags and depart Elland Road.
It wasn’t stated whether that would be a permanent or temporary exit but it certainly doesn’t bode well for those in the academy.
In other Leeds news, Adam Forshaw hit back at fan criticism this week with a one-word response…
