Pre-season begins for Leeds United’s non-international players at Leeds Beckett University on Monday and the club posted a small highlights reel on YouTube – no prize for guessing who wins the bleep test; Jamie Shackleton.
The Leeds fitness coaches welcomed back the players – such as Robin Koch, Patrick Bamford, Jack Harrison and new signing Marc Roca. The first time since the dramatic 2-1 win over Brentford, preventing relegation.
The likes of Leif Davies and Ian Poveda were also present, as were Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling who are both expected to be missing from the start of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign after undergoing surgery.
Sporting new, gold and black training kit, the Leeds players present were put through their paces. Both in terms of muscular endurance tests, jump and power tests, and fitness tests. That includes the dreaded bleep test.
But there were no surprises for the winner of the test. Leeds showed 22-year-old utility star Shackleton being the last-man standing in the bleep test at the end of the video. Shackleton is well-renowned for his fitness.
Shackleton wins bleep test as pre-season begins for Leeds players
His fitness is in no doubt. But for the versatile midfielder, where does his future lie? Shackleton played just 16 times last season, starting only nine matches. He completed 90 minutes on just five occasions.
He has a contract at Elland Road until June 2024. But realistically, with Leeds signing Roca and a right-back in Rasmus Kristensen, he really need to go out on loan and get game time. More will become apparent as the summer continues.
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