Mystery Leeds United youngster Daniel Farke hinted at named in first-team breakthrough conversation

The question was put to Farke ahead of Leeds' visit to Sheffield Wednesday this weekend, whether any of the current youth crop had caught his eye since arriving at the club last July, on the back of Archie Gray and Mateo Joseph's emergence this season. Farke remained coy, keen not to put too much pressure on young shoulders but did suggest there was one player currently injured who he had taken a particular interest in.

Taking into consideration Leeds U21s' most frequent line-up this season, Welsh youth international midfielder Charlie Crew was conspicuous by his absence from their defeat by Leicester City on Monday night, believed to have picked up an injury in training. While the knock is not thought to be too severe, Farke's decision to name one of the few players currently out of action narrowed the pool of potential youngsters he may have been referring to.

"We believe in our youth and it's one of the cornerstones in our philosophy as a club," Farke said. "It's quite important we work on a top level in the academy because we rely on that. We bring through here and there some young talent but the truth is also that we play with many young players already."

Leeds finished their midweek fixture against Stoke City with 17-year-old Gray, 20-year-old Joseph and agemate Willy Gnonto on the pitch. Similarly, Georginio Rutter, Crysencio Summerville, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev and Illan Meslier have all played important first-team roles this season - each of whom is aged 24-or-under.

"We have many, many young players on the pitch and it's also important that we are not overdoing this philosophy," Farke added. "We just bring them into the first team setup once they are ready and at the moment during this period, it's also important that we have not too much fluctuation, that we stay together with a group who know our process, our football," Farke's suggestion being that the final ten games of the season during which a fierce battle is ensuing for promotion back to the Premier League may not be the optimal time to blood a new youngster.

"Obviously we still have an eye on the development and there are definitely one or two players who also caught our eye and we are pretty, pretty careful on following them. But I don't want to speak too much about names otherwise they would have too much weight on their shoulders.

"Yes, one of them who caught our eye is at the moment also a bit injured. Perhaps you can guess a bit, but I don't want to put too many names in public.

"We give them time to develop and we try to make the best environment for them in order to step into the first-team," Farke finished.

Crew has been a key part of Scott Gardner's Under-21 group and played under a number of coaches who have identified him as an important player in the middle of the park since his arrival from Cardiff City two summers ago. Still just 17 years of age, the versatile midfielder recently signed his first professional contract with Leeds and has already been capped at Under-21 level for Wales, skippering younger age groups including the Under-17s with whom he led to the European Championships last summer - a tournament debut for the nation.

Crew has also featured for Leeds' Under-18 side throughout 2023/24 and could help the team reach the FA Youth Cup Final for the first time since 1998 this season, if they defeat Millwall in the semi-final later this month.