Boss hails 'fantastic' Leeds United youngster and reveals expectation with ace if Whites go down

England under-21s international defender Charlie Creswell has spent the season on loan at Championship side Millwall but was forced to miss the conclusion of the campaign due to a fractured eye socket.

Cresswell, though, made 28 Championship appearances for the Bermondsey outfit whose boss Gary Rowett is now predicting big things for the 20-year-old defender and a 2023-24 impact with Leeds if the relegation-battling Whites are condemned to the drop.

"He is going to be a top centre-half and a top player – certainly in the second half of the season we saw that oozing out,” Rowett told the South London Press. “He was absolutely fantastic before his injury. He was a really big loss to us.

“It’s not fair for me to comment on other club’s position on their players but I would imagine if Leeds are in the Championship next season then he would have that experience and a chance of staking a claim for them.

“If Leeds are in the Premier League then I suppose they would have a conversation of which way they want to go – Charlie may be part of that or he may not. He has developed well and shown what he is about. Another strong season next year and he is not far away from being a Premier League player.

“We knew he was a big talent. He found the challenges of the Championship straight away – in that it’s not always easy to play the game in a certain way. You have to be able to adjust and learn some of the little nuances of it.

“I think he’d be the first one to admit that in the opening months of the season he had some tough moments in games but he performed really consistently throughout. He probably made better decisions as the season went on and some of those big moments didn’t happen in the second half of it – therefore you can focus on his really, really strong performances.”