‘Strange’ – Phil Hay delivers update on Poveda as Leeds set to restart promotion bid
Phil Hay has said that what has happened to Ian Poveda at Leeds United since he arrived from Man City is “strange”.
The 20-year-old winger made it onto the bench for his first two games after signing – unlike Jean-Kevin Augustin – but was then dropped from the squad for the rest of the games Leeds played before the season was suspended.
Hay has said that as far as he knows, Poveda has not suffered from any injuries.
Talking on a Q&A following the remaining Championship fixtures getting announced, Hay said, “It was slightly strange with him [Poveda] – he came in, trained well and made a couple of matchday squads but then disappeared from view completely.
“With Bielsa, you automatically assume that Poveda wasn’t hitting the right levels of fitness or performance.
“That tends to dictate Bielsa’s selection policy and to the best of our knowledge, Poveda hasn’t been injured.”
Leeds fans are rightly desperate for any info on Poveda and the news that he hasn’t been injured at any time is interesting.
He came from Man City after a falling out after he was promoted up to the first-team squad and then put back in the Under-23s.
It’s been reported that he was “annoyed” by this and subsequently made the move to Leeds in January.
If that was annoying for him, we doubt he’ll have appreciated the exact same thing happening to him at Leeds.
It brings up a worrying possibility of an attitude issue.
We’ve seen Poveda in the Under-23s since and he’s definitely got the skills.
One moment in particular – in the Under-23s game against Barnsley in March – stood out for us. Poveda set up a goal for Bobby Kamwa with some wonderful skill and pace out on the right.
The Under-23s season was suspended after that game and we’ve not seen much of him since lockdown.
We don’t think he’ll make much of an impact in the remainder of this season but we’ve still got high hopes for him in the future.
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