Leeds United: Mateo Joseph joins Archie Gray as academy success at Elland Road – Phil Hay
Mateo Joseph is on the way towards joining Archie Gray as a Leeds United academy success story in the first team, according to Phil Hay.
The Athletic journalist told The Square Ball on 5 April that the young striker’s impressive work as an impact substitute is likely to soon put him in line to start matches for Daniel Farke.
Patrick Bamford has fulfilled the regular number nine role for the German, after replacing Joel Piroe in the line-up around the turn of the year, and while there are no imminent indications that is set to change Hay believes Joseph, 20, will be soon be another homegrown regular like teenage sensation Gray.
Hay said (5m 40s): “He’s becoming a really big impact player off the bench and I don’t think it’s going to take too much time before he starts to put himself strongly in contention to start as well.
“For the time being the structure with Bamford up front is what’s worked really well for Farke since January, and he shows no inclination to shift away from that, or to move back towards a set up with Piroe in the team…
“But Joseph is starting to look a little bit like Archie Gray, I mean Archie Gray looks like the superior player of the two, but one of those academy players who you’re going to see a lot of as time goes on.”
Leeds United academy starting to bare fruit
Amid a host of departures in January from the ’emerging talent’ programme at Thorp Arch the academy pathway to the first team was looking fairly disappointing.
Gray, 18, has largely been the exception which proves the rule this term after his breakout campaign, but Joseph has come on increasingly strongly in recent months.
His first two senior strikes in the 3-2 defeat at Chelsea in the FA Cup (28 February) showed he has the quality to make the step up from the under-21s, and his first league strike in the 2-2 draw at Watford a month later (29 March) rescued a point which could yet be vital in the title race.
If he can push on from here and get anywhere near emulating Gray’s emergence then the former Espanyol youngster would provide a major boost to Farke and Leeds United, although he has Bamford to get past for now who has been a revelation since rebounding in 2024 from a fitness and form nightmare.
The stagnation of Joe Gelhardt and Charlie Cresswell after their own graduations from the academy to the senior set up has to remain a source of frustration, with the former surely likely to leave this summer and the latter currently stuck behind the exit-bound Liam Cooper.
So even if Joseph continues to impress the success rate of homegrown youngsters will still only be a qualified success for now.
But with high hopes for Archie’s brother Harry Gray that could continue to change for the better.
In other Leeds United news, Adam Pope can’t believe what has happened to the Whites after an official announcement from the club.
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