Leeds United defensive prospect James Debayo has been tipped to leave Elland Road on loan ahead of the upcoming Championship campaign.
The 19-year-old defender has been a regular at Thorp Arch for Leeds’ U18 and U21 sides following his arrival from Watford in 2021 but he’s yet to make his competitive debut.
However, he was taken as part of the travelling party for Leeds’ pre-season tour in Germany and made an impression on the supporters, who turned into the Whites’ non-competitive outings.
Many were able to get a good look at him in the flesh as he also featured in Leeds’ final pre-season fixture, in which they defeated Valencia 2-1 at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
Leeds United’s James Debayo told to seal loan exit
Debayo has certainly caught the eye, but Daniel Farke already has central defensive options at his disposal. Joe Rodon and Pascal Strujik look set to start in their opening encounter at home to Portsmouth this weekend while Max Wober has returned from his stint on loan with Borussia Mönchengladbach and midfield skipper Ethan Ampadu can fill in at the heart of defence, too.
As such, Football League World’s Leeds fan pundit Kris Smith believes the youngster should be looking to head out on loan in the coming weeks and further his development elsewhere.
“In the early knockings of the transfer window, Leeds cleared house quite significantly in terms of shifting on quite a lot of the surplus fringe players who weren’t really getting game time or didn’t want to be here,” Kris told Football League World.
“This means there’s not a great deal of those that either are in that same position and haven’t already gone or remain that we could consider loaning out, there’s not many who are not going to be used next season.
“Having said that, centre-back James Debayo looks like he could be really in need of a loan for next season.
James Debayo’s Premier League 2 stats for Leeds United, as per Transfermarkt
Appearances
24
Goals
1
Minutes played
1,392′
“Physically he’s definitely ready for senior football, he looks a presence in our pre-season so far. But pre-season is one thing, I don’t think he’s going to be playing much senior football this season for us, especially in the promotion race we’re expecting.
“He looks technically strong enough to play in a side that will want a lot of the ball, but his ability to cover ground and physically just get stuck in is quite encouraging for him to take into the senior level.
“There’s a lot to like in general about what he’s showed in pre-season for us.
“But our strength in depth at centre-back and Farke’s potential willingness to use Ethan Ampadu if worse comes to worst, means he’s not going to get a look in for us really especially if another centre half comes in so a loan for him would make sense, and he’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Leeds United have plenty of young talent coming through
Thorp Arch is continuing to churn out prospects left right and centre, which is only good news for Leeds as they look to eventually soften the blow of Archie Gray’s departure.
Younger brother Harry could promise to do exactly that once he recovers from long-term injury, while Archie himself – among many others at Leeds – has tipped midfielder Charlie Crew for big things.
Debayo, too, appears to have a real future in the game if he reaches his potential and Leeds supporters will surely be keeping tabs on the development of their young talents over the next couple of years.
