It had been a frustrating campaign for Scott Gardner’s Leeds United U21 side until Saturday afternoon when the second string smashed Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital.
Gardner had watched his side draw 1-1 in Leeds‘ first four games. Three 1-1 draws in Premier League 2 in games against Stoke, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace and then Charlton in the Premier League Cup.
Then followed a 4-1 hammering against Wolves, but Gardner’s men turned it around on Saturday on the same day the senior side won 3-0 against Coventry. Indeed, the 21’s cruised past Tottenham to win 3-0.
Plenty of youngsters are impressing. James Debayo and Charlie Crew are set to be involved for the senior side against Norwich on Tuesday night, while Reuben Lopata-White has been in senior Leeds training.
But one player really stole the show against Tottenham on Saturday while the first-team were on fire. It is a player Daniel Farke is aware of, having called him up to the pre-season training camp in Germany.
Luca Thomas goes joint first in Premier League 2 goal rankings
Thomas, 20, scored twice in the win over Tottenham. His first came when Harvey Vincent’s effort was saved but only palmed to Thomas, who made no mistake from close range inside the first two minutes.
Kris Moore and Alfie Cresswell then combined to find Thomas in the box and his low shot saw Leeds go 2-0 in the lead, before Scotland U21 star Jeremiah Mullen made it 3-0 with a header in the second half.
Those two goals now sees Thomas boast six goals in five games for the second string, but also five goals in four Premier League 2 outings. It sees him sit joint first at the top of the Premier League 2 goal table.
Thomas sits joint first with four other attacking talents including Manchester United’s Ethan Wheatley, Arsenal’s Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and West Brom star Harry Whitwell who now all have five goals.
Daniel Farke is fully aware of Luca Thomas after summer call-up
Farke will not be so tunnel-focused on the first team and will be well aware of Thomas, after Farke called Thomas up to the pre-season trip to Germany in the summer as one of six youngsters that traveled.
Since then, Crew and Debayo have been involved without playing as two others of the six players used in Germany. But if Farke is going to make a call-up to the first team soon, then it simply has to be Thomas.
Farke’s striker pecking order leaves Thomas with little chance:
- Mateo Joseph
- Joel Piroe
- Patrick Bamford
- Joe Gelhardt
- Luca Thomas
Leeds are considering a January loan for Thomas, but the chances are that if Thomas continues the rate at which he is scoring goals for Leeds, he may get a chance. But the problem he has, is Leeds’ striker depth.
It might be that Leeds consider making Joe Gelhardt available for transfer to aid Thomas’ path into the senior side. But for now, Thomas is doing all he can to show Farke that he deserves a go at senior level.
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