Ronaldo Vieira has not started a Championship game for Leeds United since Thomas Christiansen took over in the summer.
Thomas Christiansen has done little wrong in the eyes of Leeds United supporters since taking over from Garry Monk in the summer.
Though a run of three defeats in four has dampened the early optimism, the former Barcelona striker has Leeds playing some of their most exciting football in years while getting the best out of some astute summer signings.
Christiansen’s continuing omission of highly-rated teenager Ronaldo Vieira, however, remains a rare bone of contention among supporters. The 19-year-old cemented his status as one of England’s most exciting talents in a stunning breakthrough campaign under Monk.
Vieira made 34 appearances in all competitions but, notably, is yet to start a single Championship game under Christiansen. In fact, he has made just three substitute appearances in 2017/18, amounting to just 54 minutes of action.
Few expected Vieira, Leeds’ Young Player of the Year last season and the man who scored the winning penalty as England won the prestigious Toulon Tournament in the summer, would become the club’s forgotten man.
Will patience pay off?
A potential upside, however, is that Vieira is at least being protected from prying eyes of the Premier League. The Mirror in June reported that a number of top flight clubs had made enquiries about the Guinea-Bissau-born talent and Leeds were forced to put a £10 million price tag on his head.
Leeds have lost almost all of their talented youngsters to the glitz and glamour of the Premier League in recent years but, with Vieira out of the side, the chances of him following in the footsteps of Sam Byram, Lewis Cook and co appear a little more remote.
With Cook and Byram struggling for chances at Bournemouth and West Ham, you wonder whether things moved too soon. Vieira, then, could benefit long-term from Leeds’ more cautious approach.
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