Struggles and departures of Leeds’ brighter youngsters heightens Whites’ need to spend in summer window

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Leeds United youngsters Jack Vann and Billy Whitehouse are amongst the list of players set to be released this summer.

In recent years, Leeds had been a club that had seemed to be in something of a rut in the Championship with promotion often being virtually out of the question by the turn of the year while the relegation zone was not so far out of reach that the Whites could relax until the latter stages of the campaign.

During that run of disappointing bottom-half finishes, it was often the emergence of the club’s academy graduates into the first-team that gave supporters the most to be optimistic about.

The likes of Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt, Sam Byram and Charlie Taylor were amongst the names on the conveyor-belt of young starlets that Leeds seemed to be churning out with regularity at times, but this season appears to have been a different story.

The Whites have released the likes of Jack Vann and Billy Whitehouse despite the pair arguably proving at one stage to be amongst the brightest prospects in the under-23 squad, with both men amongst the squad that suffered the humiliating defeat to Sutton United in the FA Cup earlier in the season.

Alex Mowatt, Sam Byram, Lewis Cook and Charlie Taylor have all come through the academy in recent years

Their releases suggest that the club simply do not currently have the same calibre of youngsters coming through that they have done in recent years, and thus, the Leeds hierarchy should surely be more determined to go out and spend this summer.

While there are always exceptions and talent emerges somewhat surprisingly at times – it was surely only after his loan at Fleetwood that Charlie Taylor staked a claim to be around the first-team – the first-team’s options will probably not be bolstered by the academy ranks, so whoever replaces Garry Monk surely needs to be given more money to spend to ensure that they are not feeling forced to turn to the youngsters who are not good enough at any stage.

Of course, in the long run, more talented youngsters are likely to emerge again and investment in the youth structure may be a wise option, but with Leeds’ first-team seemingly having the foundations in place to make a promotion charge in the near future, providing more money to spend on the senior squad is surely the option the club must take in the coming months as it appears that the next Lewis Cook or Sam Byram is not waiting in the wings just yet.