Leeds United battling Aston Villa to lure ‘shining star’ to Elland Road as 49ers eye teenage raid

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Leeds United have not particularly focused on youth since relegation to the Championship but that could be about to change, if they beat Aston Villa to the punch.

Victor Orta’s spell in charge of all things transfers while the Spaniard was at Leeds saw the club often raid other clubs for young talent. Plenty of current first-team players were signed by Orta while still teenagers.

Mateo Joseph, Pascal Struijk, Illan Meslier, Wilfried Gnonto and Charlie Crew were all brought to Thorp Arch from different clubs, and given top-tier academy development within the academy at Elland Road.

Crysencio Summerville is another example, bought for a bargain fee of £1.3m from Feyenoord and sold to West Ham for £34m. While Orta has plenty of critics and rightly so, he knew how to spot a young talent.

Since relegation, focus in the transfer market has been on signing players that will immediately improve Daniel Farke’s first team. But it looks as if there could be a change of approach on the horizon at Leeds.

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Leeds and Villa want to sign Bristol Rovers talent Kofi Shaw

Described as a “shining star“, 17-year-old talent Shaw has already clocked up five senior appearances for League One side Bristol Rovers. He made his debut towards the end of last season for The Gas.

This season, he has already been used four times for Rovers and even scored during a 3-3 EFL Trophy clash against Tottenham’s U21 side which went to a penalty shootout, Rovers eventually losing 8-9.

The Sun’s Alan Nixon says plenty of top-tier clubs tried to lure Shaw out of the Rovers academy but he chose to stay put as he is in and arund the first team, but now Leeds and Villa want to sign the winger.

The youngest player signed during Daniel Farke’s era is a surprise

As aforementioned, Farke has focused on bringing in players that improve the senior side. So it is quite the surprise to know that at the age of 22, Ethan Ampadu is the youngest player signed under Farke.

A leader on and off the pitch, Leeds captain Ampadu was only 22 when bought from Chelsea. Perhaps that is a sign that Leeds need to start putting some more focus on improving Scott Gardner’s U21 side.

Shaw would be a superb start, a player already playing at senior level for a third-tier English club. If Leeds can show that here is a clearer path into the first team at Elland Road, maybe they can elbow Villa aside.