Junior Firpo made a prediction following the end of pre-season that one Leeds United youngster would have a breakthrough season at Elland Road.
Leeds won all four of their friendlies during the summer as Daniel Farke looked to include a number of academy graduates in the squad for first team experience.
Aside from a couple of bumpy results to begin the campaign, Leeds have been able to take the momentum from pre-season into the real thing.
Leeds remain unbeaten in their opening four matches and sit fourth in the table on eight points, a considerably better start than they made 12 months ago.
Firpo, along with Mateo Joseph, Ethan Ampadu and Pascal Struijk have arguably been the stand-out performers for Leeds so far.
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What Firpo said about Mateo Joseph in pre-season
Mateo Joseph is certainly one of the players who has continued his momentum from the summer into the season.
He netted four goals across Leeds’ four friendlies which has enabled him to become Farke‘s first choice number nine, and he has not looked back since.
Despite not scoring in his first three appearances, Joseph was winning all sort of plaudits, including winning the man of the match award in the win at Sheffield Wednesday.
Joseph then netted his first goal of the season against Hull City at the weekend, which was the only thing missing from his opening month as a proper first team regular.
But these performances certainly have not come as a surprise to teammate Firpo, who tipped him for a ‘special’ season after the win over Valencia in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post.
He said: “With Mateo it’s a special thing, he came here when he was really young and I’ve been with him all these years. I could see him growing up, being the player he is right now. He’s not just scoring goals.
“He’s scored a lot in pre-season – it’s all the work that he puts in, the effort, he tracks back defending with us, holding the ball up, going on the counter, I think he has everything to be a really, really good striker.”
Crysencio Summerville also tipped Joseph for big season
Firpo was not the only one to tip Joseph for a big season, with former teammate Crysencio Summerville having done the same last month, too.
Summerville was crowned the Championship POTS in April and just last month – after joining West Ham – attended a PFA awards ceremony to scoop up yet another award.
While there, Summerville was asked by Rising Ballers’ Instagram account to name one youngster coming through the ranks at Elland Road to potentially look out for at next year’s PFA awards.
The Dutchman confidently gave the name of ‘Mateo Joseph’ and that certainly looks like a claim that could ring true.
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