'With this manager and these players they've definitely got a chance' - Ben White on Leeds United's Premier League hope

Andrea Radrizzani couldn’t pull his car fully onto the road for fear of running someone over but was clearly delighted with the adulation and a moment to connect with supporters, albeit through a window.

One of a fleet of people carriers that emerged through the gates contained Young Player of the Year Ben White, still in his kit.

As the door of his vehicle was opened, from the inside, and fans chanted ‘Ben White, Ben White sign him up’ the look on the loanee’s face was part terror, part awe.

White has proved this season that he is exceptionally good at football, something Victor Orta knew a year before he convinced Marcelo Bielsa this was his replacement for Pontus Jansson.

But footballing ability cannot prepare you for what comes your way when you use it to give a big club like Leeds the success its fans have craved for 16 years.

White, not much of a talker, described the club and its supporters as ‘unbelievable’ after celebrating a Championship title on the Elland Road pitch.

In the company of his team-mates and club staff at the in-house awards do 24 hours later, his tongue had loosened just a little.

“I came here not thinking I was going to be a massive part of the team,” he said.

“I played every single game, I didn’t think that was going to happen. I’m so grateful for everything that’s happened this year.”

What White has achieved, aged just 22, hadn’t sunk in on Wednesday and it might not for some time.

His performances, the interceptions, the consistency and the contribution to the meanest defensive record in the division have made him a player Brighton can’t stop talking about, telling the world at every given opportunity that they plan to keep him and they have made him a player others will quite happily pay many millions to change the Seagulls’ minds.

Leeds would dearly love to make him a permanent fixture at Elland Road and maybe a combination of a transfer market impacted by the pandemic and his desire to chase that terrified awe he experienced in the cab on Wednesday will work in their favour. Maybe a Premier League giant will get their wallet out. Maybe, and this seems less likely, Brighton will convince him to stay put – although an improved pay packet will be in order.

His future is uncertain but his love for Leeds and the experience they’ve given him is not. Nor is his certainty that Leeds will be okay next season, no matter what.

He said: “With this manager and these set of players I think they’ve definitely got a chance.”