Old boss sets honest Leeds United goal for £10m man as Bournemouth star issues three-word Mateo Joseph verdict
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Leeds United’s start to the 2024/25 season has been mixed but a strong recent run leaves them fourth going into the September international break and confidence is growing. Saturday’s 2-0 win at home to Hull City was a second win to nil for Daniel Farke’s side, who have now kept three straight clean sheets. New signings were also able to settle in over the weekend, with only Isaac Schmidt left to make a debut.
Farke now has over a week to prepare for the visit of Burnley to Elland Road a week on Saturday in what looks set to be a mouth-watering lunchtime clash. The Whites boss has a limited group to work with as things stand, with many players on international duty, but will hope to welcome all back fit and firing. With all that in mind, the YEP has rounded up some of the latest stories surrounding the club.
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UD Almeria boss Rubi admits he cannot replace the ‘spark and electricity’ of Largie Ramazani but suggested the new Leeds winger needs to work on his decision-making. Ramazani’s £10million move to Elland Road was confirmed towards the end of last month, with the 23-year-old brought in to replace West Ham-bound Crysencio Summerville.
Ramazani was handed a Whites debut off the bench during Saturday’s 2-0 win over Hull and showed in brief moments how entertaining he could prove in the Championship. But his former boss has suggested there is still work to do if he is to truly replace a prolific finisher like Summerville.
“We don't have a winger like Ramazani,” Rubi told Diario de Almeria. “It's true that he's a player who can make mistakes in his decision-making, but we don't have players with that spark and electricity in those five metres in the squad. In the medium term, if we don't get a replacement, we're looking to train a player from the reserve team or the youth team who can make the jump before time. But the idea is to look for a player with that profile on the market in time.”
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Mateo Joseph linked up with his Spain Under-21 teammates earlier this week and has evidently caught the eye during his early-season form at Leeds, receiving a short but glowing verdict from Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen. Spain face Scotland and Hungary in their European Championship qualifiers and Joseph will be desperate to build on a strong start to the campaign at club-level.
Joseph earned the trust of Farke during an excellent pre-season and despite not opening his account instantly, led the Whites’ line brilliantly. The 20-year-old eventually found the net on Saturday, opening the scoring against Hull with a clinical finish to round off another top performance.
The striker could stake a claim to be Leeds’ best player so far this season and Huijsen evidently thinks so, dropping in on Joseph’s interview with Spanish media and labelling his international teammate ‘the Leeds MVP’. Joseph will hope to live up to that tag for club and country this season.