Writing in his pre-match discussion ahead of Leeds’ game against Sheffield United, Phil Hay has shared the feeling inside Elland Road about Pascal Struijk.
The centre-half has had something of a breakout season at Elland Road, and due to a number of injuries to the likes of Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, he’s played a lot of football.
Hay says that Leeds have always rated him, but the rate of his development has taken them by surprise and that he’s been earmarked as a future Premier League regular.
“They always rated him but I’d say the speed of his progress has been a slight surprise. They absolutely think he can be a PL regular – as shown by the fact that Belgium are trying to call him up. That’s a very difficult squad to get into,” Hay wrote.
This is certainly interesting to hear.
Struijk is already a Premier League regular, but that has been more down to circumstance than selection at times this term.
However, it seems as though he could soon be one of the first names on the teamsheet at Elland Road.
It will be intriguing to see what this means for Leeds’ current centre-backs. Liam Cooper is the club captain while Koch and Llorente are German and Spain internationals respectively.
The fact that the Whites see him as a future regular is just a testament to how good he is, especially when you consider the talent United already have in that spot.
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