Leeds United director of football Victor Orta addresses Ian Poveda's loan move to Blackburn Rovers

With the likelihood of game time reduced due to the emergence of Crysencio Summerville, Poveda has joined the Championship side and could make his debut on Saturday against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

Orta insists the 21-year-old could yet make a contribution at Elland Road and there is no option in the deal that would allow Rovers to make the move permanent.

“We feel Ian can make an impact here in the future and we’ve been very impressed with how Blackburn have developed players such as Harvey Elliott at Liverpool," he said.

“We hope Ian can get some game time and come back to us next season ready to fight.”

Poveda was a January 2020 signing from Manchester City in January 2020 and has made 20 appearances for Marcelo Bielsa' s Whites.

The head coach addressed Poveda's situation last week, saying it was different to the scenario facing Niall Huggins, who last week made the permanent move to Sunderland having found himself outside the first team plans at Elland Road. Bielsa hinted that the competition facing Poveda was a factor in his absence from recent squads, however.

"The situation is different," he said.

"First of all he has had a close passage through the first team and he also has the habit of competing with the 18 players who absorb the majority of the games in the Premier League but there are also players who are also evolving and competing with him to be part of the group."