Ben White has revealed that Marcelo Bielsa made him initially train with Leeds United's Under-23s squad as a test after signing on loan.
The now 23-year-old made the switch to the Whites in the summer of 2019, spending the campaign in West Yorkshire away from parent club Brighton & Hove Albion.
White played all 46 games of United's promotion-winning campaign in the Championship as Leeds lifted the second division title by a 10-point margin.
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Bielsa's men ended a 16-year absence from the top flight and immediately attempted to land the loanee on a permanent deal after a stellar campaign.
The Seagulls, though, refused to sell their highly-rated academy product with a final bid of £30m being turned down.
White has now opened up on his time in LS11, and revealed the test his Argentine head coach put him through upon his arrival two summers ago.
"When I first went there he put me into the Under-23s changing room," White told YouTube channel Gaffer.
"So not in the first-team for a month and a bit until the Friday and the Saturday was the game against Bristol City [the first game of the season].
"I was in there until that time, on the Friday he said I could go in [with the first team].
"It was a bit of a shock. I was speaking to all the first-team players there and they were like he is just testing you. I stuck with it and luckily I did."
Asked if he was worried about stepping up into the Premier League with Brighton before the current campaign, he said: "I don't really think too much about the future. I like to assess what's happening now and take it game by game.
"In the Championship it was an amazing year. Each game was unbelievable. Now in the Premier League with Brighton it is the same, every game is important for me and obviously the team."