Daniel Farke preference clear at Leeds United amid Championship average age statistic
Leeds United are currently looking strong under Daniel Farke, who seemingly just needed some time to settle into life at Elland Road.
After a tricky start in the dugout, the manager has now guided his side to sixth place in the Championship table. He certainly hasn’t had it easy, with injuries and player exits ensuring a difficult route back to the Premier League.
Many of those exits involved senior stars leaving in the summer transfer window, but the club have replaced those players very smartly.
The likes of Ethan Ampadu, Djed Spence, Jaidon Anthony Joel Piroe, Glen Kamara, Ilia Gruev and Karl Darlow have all recently arrived at Elland Road, either on loan or permanently.
And the majority of them have helped bring the average age of the club right down, with only Sunderland (22.7) having a younger average squad age than Leeds (23.6) in this season’s Championship campaign (Transfermarkt).
Summer signings Ampadu, Spence, Gruev and Anthony are all 23, while Piroe is just a year older, proving Farke certainly has a preference for signing younger players.
They have joined the likes of Archie Gray (17), Willy Gnonto (19), Darko Gyabi (19), Crysencio Summerville (21) and Georginio Rutter (21) among many other youngsters at the club.
Interestingly, the Black Cats have 13 points from their eight matches so far, the same tally as the Whites. It remains to be seen exactly how far Farke can go with this talented group of exciting young players, but they are definitely shining in these early stages.
Perhaps the worry is that their inexperience will show in the latter stages of the season, particularly given the huge number of matches that will be played.
In other Leeds United news, Piroe has sent a three-word message to one of his Whites teammates after their 3-0 win against Watford.