Leeds United man gets late senior international call up after Farke nod and stand-by status

Charlie Crew has joined his Elland Road team-mates Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon and Daniel James in Craig Bellamy’s Wales squad for their games against Türkiye and Iceland. Boss Bellamy has been hit by a number of injuries and pull outs for this international break but Crew’s late inclusion also comes with Wales struggling for numbers in central midfield.

Leeds’ teenage midfielder has still only earned four caps at Under 21s level but already has a senior cap to his name thanks to a substitute appearance in a friendly against Gibraltar that came nine days before his 18th birthday in June. Crew was on stand-by for Bellamy for the November break after recently getting the nod from Daniel Farke to make his Leeds United debut at Elland Road.

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Farke introduced Crew to the fray in the final stages of the 3-0 home win over Plymouth Argyle. Crew joined fellow academy graduate Sam Chambers on the pitch for a pair of debuts and almost celebrated his with a goal, drawing a fine save from Argyle stopper Daniel Grimshaw. Speaking after the game Farke insisted the debuts were not given freely and had come on the back of hard work in training. “Charlie is facing lots of competition with Ao [Tanaka] and Joe Rothwell shining and with Ethan [Ampadu] and Ilia [Gruev] but he tries to improve his physicality and consistency in his passing choices. I'm happy he's there with his debut on this path.”

Crew briefly held the position of Leeds’ third-choice central midfielder when his Wales team-mate Ampadu and Gruev both sustained serious knee injuries within a matter of days. That left Farke with Tanaka and Rothwell as his only senior central midfielders and Crew was back-up. Leeds then moved to sign 34-year-old former France international Josuha Guilavogui to provide further cover and experience. Ampadu, who avoided surgery on his knee issue, is expected to return to action in January while Leeds have not yet set a timescale for Gruev’s comeback. The Bulgarian did go under the knife for a meniscus repair.

Why Guilavogui can expect to hear from Daniel Farke this week.

This international break could be a crucial one for Wales, who travel to Kayseri to face Türkiye on Saturday before ending the group stage at home against Iceland at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday November 19. Victory in both games would see Wales promoted to League A for the next Nations League campaign. Bellamy has welcomed James into his squad for the first time after the Leeds winger missed both of the last two international breaks with a hamstring problem.