Leeds United teen could follow in relative's footsteps with unexpected England call-up

The Spanish-born attacker made his Leeds United debut last week coming off the bench away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup, before making his Premier League bow days later at Tottenham Hotspur. 19-year-old Joseph has scored 12 times in all competitions for the Whites’ Under-21 side this season, having arrived in England from Espanyol in January.

Joseph and his Leeds teammates have attracted interest throughout England this season, with in excess of 30 scouts – including coaches within the FA’s England youth setup – attending Leeds’ recent Papa John’s Trophy fixture against Crewe Alexandra. The teenager qualifies to represent England as a dual national through his father, who shares a relation with former England striker Emile Heskey.

The Santander-born youngster left home at 13 to play for Espanyol in Catalonia, before making the switch to England aged just 18. Speaking to Marca this month, Joseph said: “It was complicated because I went to [the city of] Barcelona at the age of 13 without my family, leaving many things behind and it was a difficult decision.”

"Espanyol didn't come with a renewal offer and we saw that we had options and we were very attracted by Leeds' sporting project, which was incredible. We saw Leeds, that many youngsters made their debuts and stayed in the team and that's why we stayed here,” Joseph added.

"I am lucky that my father's family is from England and I have not had any complications with the language, since I was little they have spoken English to me and that takes a load off my mind.”

Spanish newspaper Diario AS report that Spain could be set to lose out on Mateo Joseph, at least at youth international level, with England’s Under-20 setup sniffing around, in light of recent form. In recent years, the Spanish football federation has missed the opportunity to call-up dual nationals such as Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho – now a full international with Argentina – and Arsenal’s Charlie Patino.

Until dual national players represents a senior international side in a competitive fixture, they are eligible to switch nationalities, meaning Joseph could, in theory, represent England at youth level before then switching allegiances to the country of his birth, and vice versa.

He is expected to travel with the Leeds United first-team on their mid-season training camp during the FIFA World Cup and may feature for Jesse Marsch’s squad during friendly fixtures arranged next month.

"A lot of these young guys are pushing and again, I always try to mention Mateo [Joseph] and Sonny [Perkins] as well because we really like those guys,” Marsch said prior to the teenager’s Premier League debut.

England may seek to integrate Joseph before next summer’s Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia, a competition the Three Lions won back in 2017 with a team featuring Leeds academy graduate Lewis Cook.

The Under-20s’ next publicly scheduled fixture is not until March 2023, although Ian Foster’s side are expected to compete in UEFA’s Under-20 Elite League alongside seven other leading European nations in the interim.