Leeds fans have taken to Twitter to react after Marcelo Bielsa spoke about Lewis Bate in his pre-match press conference.
What’s the story?
Well, speaking ahead of the visit of Watford tomorrow, Leeds Live quote Bielsa as saying: “He’s a player that is constantly managing the ball. He doesn’t lose it very often and he can thread it through the needle”.
Clearly, the Argentine rates the 18-year-old quite highly, and some supporters now believe a first-team chance isn’t far off.
Leeds signed Bate from Chelsea back in July, for a sum of £1.5m.
The teenager has already made six Premier League 2 appearances for the Whites this season, and he’s clearly done well in front of Bielsa.
The South American isn’t afraid to play youngsters.
19-year-old Charlie Cresswell started against West Ham last time out, and looked like he’d been playing in the Premier League for years.
What can Lewis Bate offer Leeds?
Well, as Bielsa states, the London-born maestro takes great care of the ball.
Bate is a fantastic midfielder with many strings to his bow, which enable him to be deployed in a number of areas.
So far this season, the wonderkid has already been used in three different positions in the academy ranks.
As Transfermarkt shows, Bate has played as a defensive midfielder, a flat central midfielder, and also as an attacking midfielder so far this term.
By the sounds of things, he isn’t far off from being given a first-team opportunity.
For now, let’s see what the Leeds fans on Twitter have been saying about Bielsa’s comments…
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