Leeds sensation set to sign new three-year contract this week – YEP journalist
Leeds United youngster Alfie McCalmont is set to sign a new three-year contract with the club this week, according to Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth.
The reporter said on his personal Twitter account on Monday morning that McCalmont, 20, is among a number of young players who could be sent out on loan next season after the Whites won promotion to the Premier League.
McCalmont, who has trained with the Northern Ireland senior side in the last year [Belfast Telegraph], has only made two senior appearances for Leeds but he does seem to be someone who is on Marcelo Bielsa’s radar as the Argentine has named the midfielder in his matchday squads on six occasions in the last year.
LeedsLive reported in May that the Northern Ireland Under-21 international has also been earmarked as a potential replacement for Kalvin Phillips in the future – if the 24-year-old star was to ever leave Elland Road.
That’s a big weight of expectation for someone who has only really played for the Under-23s for Leeds without him getting him first-team action at all.
But it just shows how much faith Leeds – and Bielsa – have in the academy system at Thorp Arch, which is producing one sensational young talent after another.
McCalmont has shone in the Under-23s though as in the 2018/19 campaign, he played a key role in helping Carlos Corberan’s side win the Professional Development League North title.
Leeds must now feel that McCalmont is too good for the Under-23s but is someone who’ll struggle to get first-team minutes in the Premier League, so tying him down to a long deal and loaning him out to an EFL club is definitely a good plan.
If McCalmont does well in say the Championship, he can come back next year as a concrete part of Bielsa’s senior squad or, if he needs another yet out on loan, the Whites can do that without worrying about his future.
It’s definitely a good deal all around and we hope that if McCalmont does go out on loan, he can at least go somewhere where he’s going to get plenty of game-time and work for a good manager.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are the only team with serious interest in this centre-back.