Grimes has failed to win many of the Leeds supporters over since his arrival in the summer.
When Matt Grimes completed his loan switch to Leeds United in the summer, he would have surely never envisaged that he would be heading into December with just one league start under his belt. But unfortunately for the 21-year-old, his time at Elland Road has certainly not gone to plan.
After starting on the opening day, the midfielder quickly fell out of favour and has subsequently made just five substitute appearances in the Championship.
But while Grimes’ time with the Whites looked destined to go down as an incredibly unsuccessful spell, circumstances hint that he may be in line for a recall to Garry Monk’s starting line-up this week.
Leeds United’s Matt Grimes
With Kalvin Phillips suspended for Leeds’ upcoming game with Reading, while Eunan O’Kane and Liam Bridcutt have both spent significant periods of time out of the team due to injury recently, Monk will perhaps have to field a slightly more unfamiliar face in the holding midfield position, presumably alongside Ronaldo Vieira.
Names like Alex Mowatt, Toumani Diagouraga and Luke Murphy may be involved in the discussion, but the fact is that none of the trio have that strong a case for inclusion.
Mowatt has not thrived when deployed slightly deeper while neither of the latter pair have been able to force their way into Monk’s plans – they have made two appearances between them in all competitions this term.
Leeds United manager Garry Monk
What suggests that Monk may turn to Grimes – if he decides to stick with the 4-2-3-1 system that he has used for the majority of the campaign – is that, unlike the other three, he is a player that Monk clearly thinks highly of, having signed him for Swansea and then for Leeds. And the youngster’s performance when he came on in the Peacocks’ most recent game, a 2-0 defeat at Brighton, suggested that there may be reason for optimism.
On a hugely difficult night for Leeds, Grimes showed some signs of promise when brought on after 45 minutes, though his performance still divided fans. And Monk may be hoping that that display gives him a much-needed boost of confidence before what promises to be another tricky night.
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