Noel Whelan and Thomas Christiansen assess Jay-Roy Grot’s Leeds debut

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Jay-Roy Grot made his Leeds United debut in the Whites’ victory over Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Jay-Roy Grot

Noel Whelan has suggested to BBC Radio Leeds that he believes that Leeds summer signing Jay-Roy Grot appears to have a tremendous amount of potential, while Thomas Christiansen also suggested to BBC Radio Leeds that he was impressed with the youngster following his debut.

The 19-year-old became the club’s first signing following the departure of Chris Wood this week, and fans got their first glimpse of the Dutchman as he came on for the final 20 minutes of their Championship clash with Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Though he did not get on the scoresheet, he certainly made an impression, showcasing his strength and powerful running to make life extremely uncomfortable for the Forest defence.

And after the 2-0 win, Whelan suggested that he is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future based on what he showed during his first appearance for the club.

“I think [we saw] some great touches, good turn of pace, some tight control for such a big man,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“[He] Won a couple of balls in the air which we expect for someone who’s 6 foot 4. But I think he could get better and better, he’s one that you can nurture and improve on because he’s 19 years of age, don’t forget, he’s a young lad, he’s still got loads of learning to do, such a good bit of potential there.”

While Christiansen was certainly not getting carried away following Grot’s debut, he also praised the teenager, and suggested that it is not just going forward where he expects to see the signing making an impact.

“It was difficult to come in, but he was important for us in the set-pieces, how he defends because he is tall and strong, and also the way he kept the ball and gave oxygen to the team, we had time to come out and play,” he also told BBC Radio Leeds.

One of the problems Leeds had last term was that they tended to become quite predictable going forward and that saw them come unstuck at stages towards the end of the campaign.

But with Grot clearly asking completely different questions to the ones that Kemar Roofe, for example, had been asking when he started the game up front, it appears that Leeds will be in no danger of being predictable going forward this term, especially if the 19-year-old develops in the way that Whelan hopes.