By Saikat Mandal

17th Jan, 2022 | 7:10pm

Andrea Radrizzani sends message to Lewis Bate after Leeds win v West Ham

Andrea Radrizzani sent a brilliant message to Leeds United young talent Lewis Bate for his performance.

The Whites won 3-2 against West Ham on Sunday (16 January) in the Premier League clash at the London Stadium and secured a back-to-back win in the league.

The 19-year-old replaced Adam Forshaw in the first half to make his Premier League debut for the club.

Bate expressed his pride on Twitter after the game in making his first appearance in the Premier League. Radrizzani responded to his tweet, saying – “Well done Lewis.”

Exciting talent

Forshaw, who signed a new deal this week, left the field with a hamstring injury in the first half.

The youngster stepped in for him and produced an assured performance before he made way for Rodrigo. Bate was less impressed with that decision.

The youngster is a fantastic talent and he can follow a similar career path to that of Kalvin Phillips who went from strength to strength to become one of the best midfielders in the country.

The return of Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk has given Marcelo Bielsa’s side a massive boost, but surely the injury to Forshaw will force the Argentine to delve into the transfer market.

There is still a lot of time left in the January window to sign one or two quality midfielders and Leeds must not waste this opportunity.

With Phillips and Forshaw (not sure how long he will be out) both injured, Leeds are seriously lacking in depth in midfield. Signing a midfielder this month should be Bielsa’s top priority right now.

In other Leeds United news, the controversially disallowed Klich goal drew this reaction from ex-England striker.