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MOT View: Recent cameo showed 19y/o can step up if Leeds fail in Jan transfer window
Leeds United are on the lookout for a winger to replace Jack Clarke, who ended up playing against them on Saturday after moving to QPR.
Ian Poveda is the name that’s been mentioned the most and the Man City winger was reportedly close to signing for Leeds.
However, that’s still not been done and there are now doubts as to whether he’ll join or not.
In the absence of Clarke, 19-year-old Jordan Stevens has stepped up. He’s come on in the last two games – both losses, unfortunately – and in the FA Cup clash against Arsenal.
He wasn’t introduced until the 87th minute on Saturday but he made an instant impact, making some bright touches and looked like a threat.
Marcelo Bielsa was impressed, saying after the game, “Stevens will give us good answers in attack.”
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Putting a youngster into regular Championship games with the pressure on Leeds at the moment is a risk but Bielsa might not have much choice.
Stevens was the only attacking option on the bench for Bielsa on Saturday and that’s a real problem, but one thing in his favour is that he looked really confident, on and off the ball.
The main issue for Leeds is getting a quality striker in and if Orta manages to do that, we don’t think a winger is essential.
Poveda would be a quality addition, both now and for the Premier League, but we want players that want to play for us. If Poveda isn’t convinced then it could be he’s not the man for us, although he may well come to regret it. Matej Vydra will certainly wish that he’d shown more enthusiasm back in 2018.
Irrespective of whether Leeds sign a new winger or not, we expect to see more of Stevens this season.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay delivers worrying transfer update after Leeds deal reported close