Neil Redfearn is a big fan of Leeds United’s Jamie Shackleton.
Neil Redfearn has told Radio Yorkshire that he has “high hopes” for Leeds United academy star Jamie Shackleton.
Leeds have a host of exciting players in their Under-23 squad following a hectic summer which saw United sign a plethora of young talent from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
But one of the more established figures in that development squad is 17-year-old Shackleton, who is known to Redfearn from when the latter was academy director from 2010 until 2015.
The teenager impressed for Leeds during pre-season with goals against Tadcaster Albion and Scarborough, and the ex-Whites manager feels as if the young midfielder is “more than capable” of leaving his mark on the senior side in the future.
He told Radio Yorkshire: “The thing with young players is that they are infectious. They make people want to train, they bring the level of everything up because they are desperate to do well.
“Jamie Shackleton is more than capable and he is somebody I have got high hopes for.”
He started for the Under-23s on Monday night but the Leeds starlets lost 1-0 to their Burnley equivalents.
Unfortunately for Shackleton, United have an abundance of central midfielders – including fellow academy graduate Ronaldo Vieira – so his route to the big time will be complicated, but Vieira’s passage should give him and his team-mates hope.
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