Why Leeds United took media risk as they seek transfer reward from Victor Orta striker

It's likely that over the course of a week journalists are going to see and hear things that the club would really rather they didn't. Football is a contact sport, tempers can flare and arguments can lead to the trading of blows. It didn't happen that way for Leeds in Spain - the most heated it ever got during the slightly-warmer-than-the-UK training camp was a dispute over a small-sided game that eventually ended in smiles and hugs.

But the other risk is that injuries occur on the training pitch and players’ availability is laid bare.

Clubs can be a little squeamish when it comes to injuries, due in part to the response they can provoke in a fanbase and if a player - Patrick Bamford over the past year springs to mind - has had a few to speak of then the reaction to even the slightest of knocks can be brutal. Players are castigated over their lack of availability and clubs are hauled over hot coals, firstly for failing to prevent injuries and secondly for any perceived related failings in the squad building process.

Liam Cooper and Crysencio Summerville both needed treatment during sessions early on in the Whites' week at Oliva Nova, yet were absolutely fine to train the following day. Adam Forshaw and Jack Harrison missed sessions the day before the friendly against Elche and both were available for the game. There was no real need to get everyone all excited over any of those instances. For Robin Koch [calf] and Diego Llorente [hand surgery], though, the problems they sustained in full view of the media ended their involvement in Jesse Marsch's training sessions and kept them out of the game at Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero.

The reason clubs take the risk of having journalists around and cameras rolling is that they'll see some of the good stuff going on. Team spirit, evidenced by the way players interact in and around the training pitch. Player-manager respect, borne out by the effort applied during the sessions and the response to coaching interjections.

What Leeds really wanted to get across last week was that the squad are all-in with Jesse Marsch and his methods. Now of course the chances of a Premier League player showing anything other than that, with journalists present, are slim to none, but it did look for all the world that everyone was giving it everything in every session. And the vast majority of Marsch's verbal output was positive. When he did have something critical to say, it was only ever directed at a player's position or decision-making, not his application or effort.

Another thing Leeds wanted to impress was how well the younger element are doing in the first team environment. This is where a caveat is needed, because the slightest mention of Mateo Joseph by his senior pal Rodrigo last week led to suspicions and cynical utterances over the January transfer window. You can lead a horse – the media – to the water – your training camp - but you cannot make it drink – dictate questions. There was no plan to soften transfer expectation with some Rodrigo positivity about young Joseph, these things don’t work like that. And there is no suggestion that Joseph, at 19 and with one minute of regulation Premier League playing time under his belt, is close enough to it that Leeds don't need to bring in an established forward. They absolutely do and the word around the club is that they're active, again, in that pursuit.

Joseph might be banging in the goals left, right and centre in Premier League 2, but he's not yet at a level where you could hang the Premier League survival hat upon his head should Bamford not return to full fitness and Rodrigo not continue to hit the net. What Leeds need next month when the window opens is a striker who can lead the line, press defences, link up play and score at a decent frequency. Someone like Bamford, to compete with Bamford and Rodrigo. It's a must. It has been for some time.

With all of that said, it should now be safe to say that Joseph is really impressive, for a number of reasons. In games, his movement and finishing has been excellent and in training the same is true.

But the comfort with which he operates in the first team environment - interacting with veterans around him and dealing with the press - less than a year after signing from Espanyol as a developmental project, suggests that he has something about him.

Back in his native Spain last week, Joseph caught the eye with a couple of sniper-like finishes and footwork that caused problems for more experienced colleagues. Just training with them is giving him a buzz.

"Honestly it's been great to be with the best players," he said.

"I've been enjoying every single minute, enjoying training, the little moments we have together. I'm feeling more settled in. The first team players take care of young lads, so it's amazing, amazing. I'm looking forward to more."

Joseph is clearly a confident young man, which bodes well for a striker, and he's already savvy enough to know that the better he gets on with those around him, the better the service could be on the pitch.

"I like to do jokes and have good relationships with my team-mates because on the pitch it's going to reflect," he said. "I'm enjoying this so I'm going to keep working hard [to keep it going]."

The benefits of the individual programme Leeds have devised for Joseph are being seen, or felt in his perspective, in 'every aspect' of his game and he knows that progression must continue if he's to establish himself as a senior striker in the Premier League.

He's one of a handful in Marsch's squad who have big prospects and high hopes but no guarantee, yet, that they'll make it at the top level. His strike partner Sonny Perkins, central midfielder Darko Gyabi and Leo Hjelde all played a full part in the Oliva training camp and looked at home, albeit in the knowledge that there's lots to work on.

"It's like all day, every day in my life is with them so we have a very good relationship," he said of his fellow Under 21s.

"I'm looking forward to playing with them in the first team one day maybe, if we keep working and doing things well. Let's see."

Another risk Leeds took in inviting the media to training was that one or more of their youngsters would noticeably struggle with the workload or the standard, yet none did. The hardest running session took a toll on them, but it did so on everyone to some degree. They made missteps in training games, but so did players several years their senior. It wasn't just the young lads getting constructive positional criticism from Marsch.

Leeds are ploughing much time, thought and resource into Victor Orta's 'Anticipate Talent' project to find stars of the future in the age groups well below Under 21s, with the aim of unearthing crops just as exciting as this current one, because to compete in a league with the absurdly-rich the Thorp Arch academy machine cannot stop rolling. Find them early, sign them for relatively small fees and turn them into Premier League players you would have to spend multi-millions on.

Right now it would be risky to judge Joseph and pals as fully ready for the senior level, but making them feel as part of it as they did last week could get them there soon enough and bring huge rewards to Leeds.