Daniel Farke has claimed that Leeds United gem Mateo Joseph will play an “important part” for the club both in the short and long-term future, as he continues his recovery from injury.
Farke revealed he had been impressed by Joseph in pre-season, both in training and warm-up fixtures, some of which were behind closed doors as they continued their preparation for the Championship season.
He had been out with an ankle injury picked up just days before the season started [BBC, 4 August], but Dr Rajpal Brar told MOT Leeds News he is now ready to play 90 minutes, with Farke now confirming Joseph’s sharpness in training.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the Southampton clash, Farke told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “Sadly he had this long-term injury and as a young player who is just on the way into the first team football it’s never easy if you are out for more or less two months and you then need a little bit longer to be back in shape.
“But on the training pitch, he looks really sharp and we are also thinking perhaps of giving him some minutes whenever possible in the under 21s to give him a bit of feeling for the positioning but also the feeling for a normal game but once he is capable to impress that is also a chance to be selected for the travelling squad.
“He was for example for the last game and we obviously also had a few injury concerns in the last game with Willy Gnonto and also Patrick was not one hundred per cent 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.
There are high hopes around Joseph both for his future at Elland Road but also as a player. At just 19 years old, he is clearly highly respected and admired by the staff at Leeds, and Farke’s keen praise of the attacker is a display of just how good he is.
With Joseph providing active competition and cover for the likes of Wilfried Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville, Joel Piroe and Georginio Rutter, it will only be a positive for him to be able to train and play alongside such talented players.
The return of Patrick Bamford from injury will have been a slight harm to his chances, but the boss’ comments will ease any worries of falling down the pecking order, as his availability is obviously valued and will be relied upon as fixture congestion ramps up.
In the Championship, having an abundance of quality players is never a bad thing, and fans can now expect to see Joseph given his chance to shine as the fixture schedule gets tighter in the slog of the winter months.
