All eight of Leeds United’s summer signings will have a part to play this season but some may have to be more patient than others.
Leeds were forced to undergo considerably more of a rebuild than had been expected at the beginning of the window, but in the end, will be satisfied with their work.
Joe Rodon, Jayden Bogle and Manor Solomon have not taken long to establish themselves in Daniel Farke‘s strongest XI, though the former was always going to do so after being on loan last season.
Largie Ramazani and Ao Tanaka are almost certain to follow them into Leeds’ best team in the coming weeks, while Isaac Schmidt may have to wait a little longer due to the competition at full-back.
Alex Cairns has been brought in for his off-field presence in the goalkeeping department, but the case of Joe Rothwell is a little more curious.
Why Joe Rothwell could be asking questions on Leeds move
Rothwell was one of the earlier signings at Leeds in the summer as he joined on a season-long-loan from Bournemouth even before the first pre-season friendly at Harrogate Town.
In theory, a full pre-season should really have proved beneficial for Rothwell to really stake a claim for a place in the team, but he has been unable to do so in the opening month of the campaign.
Rothwell has played a total of just 51 minutes in the league so far, with only six of those coming in the last two matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City.
His role is only going to be reduced further once Tanaka is up to speed, as he has almost certainly been signed to be that starting number eight.
With Rothwell of a similar midfield profile to Tanaka in terms of attacking threat, the fact he could not get a start over Ilia Gruev in that role in any of the first four games may be a little worrying for him.
Gruev is very much more of a holding player in that midfield and so when all four are fully fit, it will be interesting to see what sort of role the ‘amazing‘ Rothwell has.
His experience at this level should count for a lot, but at the same time he is only 29 and won’t be happy simply being a senior figure in the dressing room when he still has a lot to offer on the pitch.
Rothwell needs to be patient at Leeds
Unfortunately for Rothwell, all he can do at this stage is be patient, as difficult as that may be.
Clearly he has joined from Bournemouth in order to play more regularly but it does not look like that will be the case given the competition.
Having said that, he will know as well as anyone else in the squad that over a 46-game season, he will get chances at some point.
Even in the disappointing 3-0 defeat to Middlesbrough, Rothwell was one of the only players to show something and so at some point, he is bound to get at least one opportunity.
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