Diogo Monteiro appears extremely close to making Leeds United debut
Leeds United defender Diogo Monteiro now looks to be on the cusp of making his senior debut after putting in stellar performances for the Under-21s.
The Portuguese centre-back moved to Elland Road in January and was instantly told to train with the Under-21s side.
Within days, the 18-year-old left an impression and has gone on to become a regular for the side.
Recently, he played out of position in the win over Derby County Under-21s and that saw the assistant coach Michal Pajdak waxing lyrical over him.
Via LeedsLive [8 March], he said, “Fantastic professional. He’s still very young and people forget how young he is.
“He had to fill in at right-back tonight but he did a really good job, very professional and defensively solid. He’s comfortable in possession of the ball and at the training ground, he’s a top, top professional.
“He wants to do extras and develop all aspects of his game, he wants to do video sessions and extra tactical practice. I think he will be good, he’s got big potential and we are definitely going to benefit from him going through the experience of playing under-21s football, getting ready for the first-team.”
He’s already been named on the bench for the senior side on four separate occasions and performances like that are hard to go unnoticed.
Javi Gracia himself was at the game and surely would’ve gone back impressed after seeing what Monteiro brought to the table.
The fact that he’s doing extra tactical training and is even attending video sessions to improve his game suggests that he wants to break into the first team as soon as possible.
With him already making the bench, we do not think it’s too far away before he’s brought off the bench in the Premier League to make his senior bow.
He’s certainly done everything right since moving to Elland Road and he deserves to have his hard work appreciated.
In other Leeds United news, the club may now face a losing battle to keep their star player at Elland Road beyond the summer transfer window.
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