Credit: Imago

Daniel Lewis

Mon 1 June 2026 20:10, UK

Craig Bellamy is excited about what the future holds for Wales and Leeds United youngster Jayden Lienou.

Lienou was called up to the Wales senior squad last week for their friendlies with Ghana and Romania over the coming days.

The defender was part of matchday squads for Leeds towards the end of this past season after impressing at age-grade level.

And Lienou has done enough to put himself in contention for a maiden Wales senior cap already at the age of 18.

Bellamy has discussed the youngster’s prospects and also praised Leeds for their part in his development up to now.

Craig Bellamy wasting no time on Jayden Lienou

Daniel Farke was eager to get Lienou in and around the Leeds squad at the end of last season, knowing his time will come very soon indeed.

And Bellamy clearly sees it the same way. While falling short of confirming if the young defender will play this week, he made it clear he believes he is already ready.

“There are one or two that are very young, like Jayden for instance. l’ve watched him a lot in Leeds’ Under-21s,” Bellamy told reporters in Cardiff on Monday.

“He’s done very well in the younger set-ups for Wales. He’s definitely a player that we like. So when a space creeps up, why are we wasting time? Let’s get him in.

“We believe this boy has got a real chance. Now of course, there has to be other progressions to his game to be able to allow him to be able to be a top, top player for Wales.

“But what we’ve seen already in his development – and that’s from Leeds, not from us – we see a player with real high potential that can have a huge impact in an area that’s going to be really important for us.”

Given these upcoming games are dead-rubber friendlies for Wales, there is a real chance Lienou will be capped even if only for a few minutes.

There is plenty of hype surrounding Lienou at Leeds, and that is deserved given the trajectory he is on so early in his career.

Lienou next step is pretty obvious at Leeds

Lienou was also a regular member of first-team training this past season, with suggestions he may be part of the pre-season plans.

That seems the most obvious next step for Lienou, who will then possibly get the chance to feature in the odd first-team game in 2026-27.

Lienou only arrived at Leeds a year ago from Manchester City, but he has continued to develop at a fast rate since then.

It may well be that a loan move to a Championship club is then considered, but Farke will at the least want to get a closer look at him in the early stages of the summer.

Beyond that, the world is Lienou’s oyster.