Could Pascal Struijk’s first-team bow for Leeds come sooner than planned?

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Leeds United signed Pascal Struijk towards the end of the January transfer window.

One of the deals that Leeds managed to pull off during the latter stages of an extremely busy transfer window for the Championship side was the move to bring Pascal Struijk in from Ajax on a three and a half year deal.

The club confirmed at the time of the announcement that Struijk was set to become a part of the Whites’ under-23 squad for the foreseeable future, and he subsequently made his debut against their Birmingham City counterparts last week.

It was certainly an eventful game for the 18-year-old as he scored at both ends of the pitch as Leeds came from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw with the Blues at Thorp Arch.

It was not the ideal debut for the teenager, but it was definitely an encouraging one that provides a hint that he could be a player to keep an eye on in the future.

Nevertheless, events in the first-team just suggest that Paul Heckingbottom may need to consider throwing Struijk into the mix for a spot in the senior side much sooner than most probably would have liked.

Leeds go into this weekend’s clash with Sheffield United desperately short of defensive options. Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi are suspended, while Pontus Jansson and Conor Shaughnessy are injured.

That leaves Matthew Pennington as the one available centre-back, while the likes of Ouasim Bouy and Adam Forshaw may perhaps be in contention to fill in in the role for the trip to Bramall Lane.

The defensive crisis may perhaps see Paudie O’Connor given a chance given that he is probably the most first-team-ready centre-back in the under-23 ranks right now, but perhaps Struijk will also be in contention for a rapid promotion.

Of course, it would be a major surprise if he started the game against the Blades – his under-23 debut hints he is not ready to – but perhaps he may be considered for the bench.

And given that Leeds’ centre-back pairings at the start of the last three games have not managed to see the games through, any defender on the bench against Sheffield United would have to feel that there is a good chance that they may be getting some game-time at some point.