Leeds United hype train set for Archie Gray treatment as Farke responds to 'unfair' comparison

Joseph's movement and crisp finishing were on display in consecutive games for club and country as he nipped to the front post to score his first of the season for Leeds, against Hull City, before joining up with Spain's Under 21 side and beating a defender to a cross to drill home a match winner against Scotland.

It was his goals in pre-season, as well as his general performance, that led to widespread excitement over the potential for a breakout campaign for the 20-year-old centre forward. Patrick Bamford's continued struggle with injury and Joel Piroe's self-confessed status as a '9 and a half' in a system that really looks best fitted to an out-and-out number 9, Joseph's physical condition when he reported back to Thorp Arch, Farke's contentment to start the youngster - it all seemed to align at the right time. Starts, goals, potential being realised. Joseph's time was arriving.

He needed to do it in a proper game though and that took a little more time than Joseph would have liked. Yes, the performances were good enough to suggest it would come and the two assists at Sheffield Wednesday kept the narrative from turning, as it surely would have had he continued to go without a goal. But an instinctive finish to put Leeds 1-0 up against Hull removed that little bit of weight from his young shoulders.

His manager, once a striker himself, appreciated the style with which Joseph opened his 2024/25 account. "Perfect striker's goal, also perfect movement from a striker in the box, I love this goal," said Farke. "Overall with the build-up, how we created it as a team, the perfect assist and a really good cross [from Manor Solomon] but this movement to be there instinctively at the right moment just ahead of the centre-back at the first pose, it was not an easy finish. I also like the balance and imagination to press the ball down, it was also important. I'm delighted for him, because he was there with lots of workload, high work rate in the last games, and was there also with a really good assist, also high work rate [against Hull] and was also involved in the second goal. For a striker it's always important to be off the mark. It was not 6-1 in the 93rd minute, it was the first goal and that's a sign of quality. He deserves it. I'm pretty happy."

That praise would send even the most battle-hardened of veterans into an international break with a spring in their step, but Farke was not finished yet. He went on to talk about Joseph's 'natural born instinct' to be a striker, which is not something he believes can be taught or learned. It's a gift, a blessing that Joseph happens to have. And when tallied with a work-ethic, which Joseph also happens to have, then there is serious potential for a fine career.

What came next though was a familiar sound. That of brakes being applied. And though not so much familiar to Joseph just yet, his friend and former colleague could tell him all about it. Last season when all and sundry were losing their minds over the seeming limitlessness of Gray's promise and the ease with which he took to men's football aged 17, Farke was a voice of reason. He never particularly disagreed with any of the statements being bandied around Leeds' teenage breakout star - indeed Farke himself predicted Gray would go on to be 'crucial' for England - but he simply urged caution. The Whites manager issued countless reminders that Gray still had much to learn. Farke felt moved to do the same when Joseph and Gray's situations were linked.

"I think it's unfair to compare," he began. "So [when he was] 17, Mateo had not played that much on senior level. So for that, it's perhaps fair to say that they are different types of players. To have a player delivering consistency like Archie Gray in the age of 17, in such a physical league, you have this perhaps in 20 years just once. You can't reproduce it each and every year with one or two players, no chance. But Mateo, for his age, to be the main man for such a big club like we are, and also such an emotional club and with such a heavy shirt, to lead the line, also with good workload and delivering good performances, you need to have a special character and also a special talent. And this is what he definitely, definitely has. But again, he's not the finished end product, just one goal so far in the league. And we can speak about a quality player when he has 20, 30 goals under his belt, but not just after one goal [am I] already willing to sing the high praise of him."

Such was Gray's prodigious maturity that his coming off the rails never felt remotely likely during his first season of senior football for Leeds. Those close to him say he takes everything in his stride off the pitch, just as he does on it, but any shred of doubt would have been obliterated by Farke's public caution. It was the manager's way of putting up bumpers to keep a young player on track.

We now know that the same treatment will be applied to Joseph, as it was with Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter during their most vibrant purple patches in a campaign that led them, if not Leeds, to the Premier League. We also know that Joseph's attitude and response to last season's frustration and disappointment bode very well and hint at the kind of character he will need to realise his own potential.

There was a moment, in April, that might have led to a very different notion of the forward. It came when, with many around the club predicting a start for Joseph against Blackburn Rovers. Farke did indeed drop Bamford but instead went with Piroe. Joseph's frustrations came to boil, ironically enough in a little spat with Bamford during a substitutes' rondo. There were words, some shoving and it took a serious effort from senior players to placate a visibly-emotional Joseph.

Yet rather than throwing the toys out of the pram and seeking a summer move away to go and get the minutes he feels he's ready for, Joseph knuckled down in a pre-pre-season training camp of his own and returned to Leeds in an improved physical shape that impressed Farke. His determination to force his way into action via the right methods and his confidence in stating he saw himself on Bamford and Piroe's level have evidently played a part in setting him up for what could be a big season.

The season continues with Tuesday's Under 21 international clash with Hungary and then Joseph will be back at Thorp Arch again to prepare for an important Elland Road meeting with Burnley. It's the first 'promotion clash' of the season, if you can call any game that at this early stage, and wins at home are always crucial. The likelihood is that Farke will once again make Joseph his main man up top. A player not yet 21, with four Championship starts to his name. Another goal will only send the hype train into another gear. The expectation is that, regardless of what happens next, Farke will keep his young star from derailing.