Lee Sobot impressed by Leeds United player Jamie Shackleton in pre-season
Lee Sobot has singled out Jamie Shackleton as one of the standout performers for Leeds United so far in pre-season.
The 21-year-old only played in 13 Premier League games last season, but it seems as if this could be his year to make a big impression on the first team as Sobot described him as “the standout player” in pre-season for the Whites.
Now, considering the likes of Raphinha and Patrick Bamford have played in pre-season, that is high praise indeed for the young central midfielder, and it would be great to see him play more league games this year.
The Yorkshire Evening Post journalist singled out a number of different players on his personal Twitter account but picked Shackleton as his stand out.
Will Shackleton force his way into Marcelo Bielsa’s midfield?
Since Bielsa has arrived at Leeds, Shackleton has played 63 games for the Argentine, which out of Bielsa’s 140 as Leeds manager, isn’t too bad.
However, the question is can he use this pre-season as a springboard into the Whites’ midfield or right-back and play even more games?
Leeds don’t have that many options in the centre of the park. Stuart Dallas played there a lot last season and excelled, but he was pretty much played there out of necessity. So if Shackleton can keep playing well, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be in that Leeds central midfield.
Clearly, Sobot has been impressed by a player who has been described as “energetic” by Marcelo Bielsa in the past, and it would be fantastic to see him feature more in the Premier League this season [LeedsLive].
He is still only young, and given that he has three years left on his contract, you would think he could be given more time to make an impression.
However, wouldn’t it be great to see the Leeds-born man make a big impact on the first team this year?
In other Leeds United news, the club are in a battle over one particular transfer target.