Missing out on Florian Jozefzoon is a blessing in disguise for Leeds

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Leeds were linked with Dutch winger in the summer, but he joined Derby instead.

Leeds United missed out on reported target Florian Jozefzoon in the summer as he chose to leave Brentford and join Derby County instead – but failing to capture the Dutchman has been a blessing in disguise.

The Yorkshire Evening Post claimed in August that Leeds were willing to pay Brentford £3million to land the 27-year-old winger, but instead the former PSV Eindhoven and Ajax star chose Frank Lampard’s side.

Since his move, Jozefzoon has found the back of the net only once in the Championship in nine games, starting only five of those matches as the likes of Harry Wilson continue to shine ahead of him.

But without Jozefzoon, Leeds have since given a chance to teenager Jack Clarke who made his debut for the Whites against Jozefzoon’s former side Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

The 17-year-old entered the fray for the last 20 minutes of the 1-1 draw against Brentford, immediately having an impact with his direct style of play and his close control when in possession of the ball.

Instead of splashing out £3million on a player that is struggling to make an impact at Derby, and even get into Lampard’s starting eleven, Leeds have the chance to develop a player who at 17 is already impressing in the first team.

His work with Carlos Corberan in the Under-23 set-up has seemingly benefited Clarke, who is already a prominent member of the Whites’ second string. He is also clearly admired by Marcelo Bielsa, who has included him on the bench for five games, and is the perfect example of the type of player Bielsa likes.

With Leeds also boasting the likes of Pablo Hernandez, Jack Harrison, Gjanni Alioski and Stuart Dallas, Clarke has the chance to make a name for himself and become Thorp Arch’s next exciting product.

But with Jozefzoon in the way, it would have been much more unlikely that Clarke would have made his debut on Saturday. A blessing in disguise, then, that Leeds missed out to Derby.