Who is Mateo Joseph? Leeds United’s Spanish starlet who has left on loan

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Mateo Joseph is a professional footballer who plays for Mallorca, on loan from Leeds United.

Leeds United thought they’d unearthed a diamond when they recruited Spanish starlet Mateo Joseph in 2022.

The promising striker went on to score buckets at youth level in Yorkshire, catching the eye of Daniel Farke and becoming a regular presence in the first team.

However, Joseph failed to make an impact with the seniors and, after limited game time in Leeds’ Championship-winning season, he forced through a loan move to Mallorca in 2025.

Here’s what you need to know about him.

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Mateo Joseph age and height

Joseph stands at 5’11” tall, making him smaller than usual for a striker. However, thanks to his broad frame, he remains a physical presence in attack and has pace to frighten defenders.

He is still young, too, with plenty of time to realise his potential after his development stalled at Elland Road.

Joseph was born in Santander, Spain, on October 19, 2003, which makes him 21 years old as of September 2025.

Joseph’s father is English and a cousin of former England striker Emile Heskey. As a result, the striker is eligible to play for England and did so at Under-20 level. However, he has since started playing for Spain Under-21s.

How much did Leeds United pay for Mateo Joseph?

Leeds picked Joseph up for a sizeable £900,000 fee when they signed him from La Liga side Espanyol in January 2022.

Joseph was still just a teenager at the time, but had shone for Espanyol and Racing Santander’s academies, alerting Leeds to his promise.

Mateo Joseph salary

Joseph reportedly earns £15,000 a week at Leeds, which works out at £780,000 a year.

That puts the forward at the bottom end of Leeds’ wage bill and Mallorca will be paying a percentage of his salary while he is there on loan.

He is contracted with the club until 2028.

Mateo Joseph stats

Joseph spent his first year at Leeds in the Under-21s and was prolific in front of goal, earning himself a call-up to Farke’s first-team squad.

However, he struggled to score at senior level and rarely started as a result, which saw him seek a move away in 2025 and join Mallorca on loan.

Mateo Joseph Instagram

Joseph has an official Instagram account with over 60,000 followers that you can find @mateoojoseph.

He does not appear to have an X (formerly Twitter) account.

Why Mateo Joseph left Leeds United

Joseph was desperate to leave Leeds in 2025, though the club wanted to keep him after turning down a £10m bid from Real Betis in January.

A move to Betis on loan looked possible in the summer, but ultimately, he headed to another La Liga outfit in Mallorca.

Joseph didn’t travel with the Leeds team in pre-season in his bid to force through an exit, and Farke said in July: “It was actually the plan to have him here [in Germany].

“With him, the situation is quite clear. We really value and rate him – otherwise we wouldn’t have played him, especially in the beginning of the last successful campaign ahead of a golden boot winner in Joel Piroe and an experienced striker like Patrick Bamford.

“Nevertheless, he came to me and asked for a new challenge and would like to move. He has also hinted that he prefers a move to Spain due to his Spanish roots. That was his call.”

Explaining why he wanted to leave, Joseph told The Athletic: “It happened on the first day of pre-season, because he always told me he trusted me, but then, he (Farke) showed me he didn’t. This season, he told me that he wasn’t counting on me.

“Then I saw that there were quotes (saying) I didn’t want to go to Germany, that he couldn’t force me. That wasn’t the case. He told me that it was fine if I didn’t go. These situations are disappointing.

“I consider myself an honest person, I want that to be reflected when people talk about me. The most important thing is to have a clear conscience, and I have a very clear conscience that I gave it my all.”