Ronaldo Vieira has barely been seen at Elland Road of late but the Leeds United midfielder is still part of the Three Lions’ plans.
Ronaldo Vieira has endured a miserable couple of months at Leeds United but that has not stood in his way of being called up for the England U20s side ahead of their clash with Portugal on Tuesday.
And Leeds fans have taken this opportunity to ask why the 19-year-old, who actually grew up in Portugal and played for Benfica’s academy, has not been getting much of a look-in at Elland Road of late.
Vieira barely featured under Thomas Christiansen and has found playing time even harder to come by with Paul Heckingbottom in the dugout. In total, the teenager has played just 45 minutes of football in the last month and a half.
And when you consider that the unpopular Eunan O’Kane and Kalvin Phillips appear to have cemented their place ahead of Vieira in Heckingbottom’s pecking order, the already under-fire manager is not enhancing his reputation in the eyes of supporters by his continued omission of one of the most exciting talents in English football.
In truth, Vieira has not looked himself since Garry Monk departed Elland Road almost a year ago. A dynamic and all-round midfielder who looked set for the top, Vieira will now be praying that he gets onto the pitch against Portugal.
After all, he hasn’t had much chance to play of late.
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